Jigsaw: British Kid’s Puzzle-Solving Show from the 80s #SaturdayMorningCartoons
Here’s a full episode of an educational show called Jigsaw from the BBC. Its aim was to teach kid’s critical thinking skills through puzzle-solving. It was also super strange.
Cast members included a giant, a mad inventor, a Pterodactyl, a Sherlock Holmes-looking bumbling detective plagued by a mysterious burglar, a Hedgehog, a pixel-come-to-life, the O-Men (one played by Sylvester McCoy, the Doctor), and the infamous Mr. Noseybonk.
Jigsaw was a British children’s show that aired on BBC from 1979 to 1984 with a total of 45 episodes in six seasons. The show featured elements of puzzle solving as well as various skits and had several hosts/presenters.
Throughout the show, the presenters and supporting characters came together to solve a number of puzzles; these puzzles would then contribute to one larger conundrum that would be revealed at the end of the show. The viewer was encouraged to take part and solve the puzzles at home.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
