DIY Craft #2: Pinhole Camera

Try our easy step-by-step craft tutorial and make your own pinhole camera.

You'll need: 
- Empty Pringles tube with lid (or any firm cardboard container with a tin end)
- Pin
- Masking tape
- Square of tracing paper or baking parchment cut slightly bigger than the circumference of the container
- Sharp scalpel (or bread knife)
- Paper, paint or stickers to decorate if you wish!

1. Clean out the container.

2. Mark out roughly 2 inches from the metal end of the container all around, I marked on several dots for my 4-year-old son, Jude to join up together.

3. Cut along this line to divide the container in two (I used a bread knife but you can use a scalpel). Make sure a grown-up does this job of course! 

4. Make a hole with a pin in the centre of the metal end of the container.

5. Place the tracing paper over the open end and put the transparent lid on top to hold the tracing paper in place. If you don’t have the lid, you can just use tape or a rubber band to hold it in place.

6. Put the other part of the container on top and tape well into place making sure any gaps are sealed up so that no light can shine through.

 
7. Cover in black paper (or tin foil) if you wish to make extra sure all light is blocked out. This also gives you a surface to decorate to add to the fun.

8. Look through the open end (you may want to cup your hands around the hole to block out any light) out to a bright space, or objects lit under a bright lamp and enjoy!

9. Try experimenting with different sized pinholes, or tracing paper vs parchment paper to see what works best. Have fun learning about optics!