Rube Goldberg Machines
Click to viewWhen I was a kid, I used to watch a kid's programme called Vision On, which had a series of photographic clips and artwork. They made some Rube Goldberg machines; a system of complicated, Heath-Robinson-esque devices to deliver simple tasks, often in a convoluted way. This used to delight my sister, who attempted to make some of her own. When my youngest son was growing up and showing an interest in simple mechanics, I found a series of Japanese children's programmes called Pitagora Suichi (Pythagoras Switch in English) and he was fascinated. It helped depict how things happen in a consequential line. Invaluable for kids, who quite often don't think further than the next step.