Connecting the dots

As the 9-11 hearings continue here in the States, we are again hearing the phrase -- 'connecting the dots'. This phrase seems to utilize the metaphor of the old kids puzzles where there would be a bunch of numbered dots on a page. The child would draw a line from one number to the next in number sequence and a picture would emerge from the previous chaos.
Are these puzzles and the use of them common elsewhere in the English speaking world?

Very common in kids magazines in the UK - and in those for the elderly, I guess!

It was sometimes called "Square the Dot." Ring any bells? SS

Nup - all we ever did was 'connect' the dots. So it seems to me to be yet another opportunity to create buzzwords.

Everytime I see this title of this thread, I hear Pee-Wee Herman singing: Connect the dots, la-la-la-la.