Create Fire With a Magnifying Glass

This article will teach you how to create a small fire with a magnifying glass. Make sure not to let the fire get out of control!

Steps

Get some tinder such as newspaper.
Do this where where the fire cannot burn anything else but tinder. Suitable places include a cement sidewalk, an area of dirt with no vegetation surrounding it, a bricked in/rock ringed fire hole, etc.
Take a small piece of dry wood and put the edge of the newspaper on the edge of the wood.
Hold the magnifying glass in front of the sun so that a small bright dot will appear on the newspaper. Adjust as needed to get dot as small as possible. The dot has to be a circle as small as possible, or else it will take a long time.
Be patient. It may take up to 4 to 9 hours to actually get a flame (but it can be seconds if the sun is strong enough).
Put the fire out as soon as it moves from where you started it. You can stomp on it with your shoe or throw water on it.
Ensure that the area you put out is not hot enough to burn anyone or catch on fire again.

Use a flat page magnifier. This type is large and square like a sheet of paper. Although they usually don't have as much magnification, it's apparently the large surface area that makes it more efficient (it concentrates more solar energy on the target).
Focus the magnifier as small as possible. The concentrated image will be rectangular not round, so focus as best you can to make the focal point small.
Note that one side of a flat magnifier is ridged and the other side is smooth. It will work a little better if you hold it so that the smooth side faces the target.
Be careful of your own eyesight. It should also be noted that this large lens will make an extremely bright area (much more so then a standard round 2 or 3 inch round glass). So do not stare at the point of light.
Focus until it lights. Then follow the steps for a lit fire as explained in the previous method.

Black paper works better by absorbing heat via sunlight.
You can also use leaves, grass, dryer lint, or char cloth.
Have water nearby in case of an emergency.
You can use glasses to. Glasses are a great survival too right on your face.
A fire starting lens can be made from clear and flat ice by melting one side of a piece of it in the palm of your hand so that the melted side becomes rounded like a lens.
Try popping balloons with it.
Stay at safe distance from the fire when you're done.

Do not look at the sun with your magnifying glass.
Whatever you do, please wear sunglasses if you are looking at that tiny circle where the light is compressed, (the damage is permanent!)
Please, do not light your house on fire.
Don't hold the magnifying glass in such a way that it might burn you!
Make sure you do not burn yourself.
If you have a larger glass, avoid looking at the spot on the tinder as you are heating it, lest you permanently damage the retinas in your eyes!
After you put out the fire, if it's still smoking, stomp on it some more until it stops smoking.
Wear sunglasses so your eyes don't burn when locating the sun in the sky.
Wear ear defenders and safety goggles when popping balloons.