The sun (Sol) is certainly forgotten by many visual observers who get caught up in playing tag with the moon, clouds, and light pollution. The Sun offers us a chance to get the scope out in the daytime and not have to worry about dew heaters, condensation, light shrouds/baffles, and other cool night requirements.
It's relatively cheap to get going on solar observation, just buy a A4 sheet of Baader Astro Safety film (around $40) and you have enough material (for most scopes) for a solar filter (that masks 99.999% of white light) which has a great reputation for safety and useability (and DIY filter making).
I built one using Baader's instructions that come with the sheet of Safety Film, and it's not hard to do and can usually be done with things you have at home already (like some cardboard for the rim and collar).
Obviously you never point a scope at the sun without taking precautions and no child should ever be left unsupervised in this situation. My little goto mount has a couple of level of lockouts on it to prevent it going to and tracking the sun, and this is a useful reminder when your using it that this is a dangerous activity unless you are prepared with proper filtration.
I highly recommend that when first testing your DIY filter that you use a welders safety glass or shield to look through to confirm that there is no damage to the film (highly unlikely as that is) or gaps around the edge where light can get through. It can also be held up to the sun, off the scope, to verify before you attach it to the scope.
Another consideration is actually finding the Sun with your scope, whether you have goto mount or your doing it manually, some slewing might be required to centre the Sun - just remember that unless you have shielded your finderscope you can do just as much damage with that to your eye as looking in an eyepiece. I would recommend removing the finderscope altogether so that your not instinctively drawn to it. I have seen, and made, a nifty little sundial type device that is simply a wooden match stick glued vertically (90 degrees) to a piece of cardboard. When fixed to the front of the scope you simply move the scope until there are no shadows falling on the cardboard disc from the matchstick and the scope will be centred on the sun (like a sundial).
You don't need big scopes to observe the sun, in fact small is better because it's so close, and big scopes require bigger filters or aperture reduction covers (with filters) to be used. My little 5" f5 650mm fl newt does a great job and with a 20mm eyepiece provides 32.5x magnification which gives great sunspot detail, with plenty of EP power available to go much closer in on the limb and spots.
I don't fully understand what's required for the Hydrogen-alpha filtering process needed to see the flares but I will leave that to others to comment on. Suffice to say that the Baader Astro Safety film is all you need to get started, and enjoy easy daytime observation.
