SCRAMBLE SQUARES® PUZZLE NAMED ONE OF 10 BEST EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS FOR 2003 BY THE INSTITUTE FOR CHILDHOOD RESOURCES
REDONDO BEACH, CA…October 1, 2003… b. dazzle, inc. of Redondo Beach, California, has announced that its new “Philadelphia” Scramble Squares® 9-piece brain teaser puzzle has been honored by The Institute for Childhood Resources in San Francisco as being one of the “10 BEST EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS FOR 2003” and also that b. dazzle’s unique Scramble Squares® puzzle line has been named to Dr. Toy’s “100 BEST CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS FOR 2003” for the second consecutive year.
The 11th Annual report of “Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products 2003” awards announced today is now available to parents, teachers and others in the magazine, Dr. Toy’s Guide, on the Internet’s World Wide Web. The Web Site address is http://www.drtoy.com. The free report is available by sending a SASE #10 envelope to Dr. Toy and requesting a copy.
“Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products” Awards Program 2003″ was developed by noted child development authority, Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. (a. k. a. “Dr. Toy”) as a service to consumers who desire to purchase safe, affordable, educationally oriented and stimulating toys and products for children. A childhood specialist for over 30 years, Dr. Auerbach is the Director of the Institute for Childhood Resources, founded in San Francisco in 1975. She introduced Dr. Toy’s Guide when she saw the need for more year-round resources for consumers to identify and choose the most appropriate, safe and engaging learning and developmental products for all children.
“Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Products” were carefully chosen from among hundreds that Dr, Auerbach has received at toy fairs, catalogs and through many other sources, and by using extensive criteria that she has developed over many years. The winning products include innovative toys, games, books, videos, audiotapes, software/CD’s, crafts, socially responsible and other children’s products. Dr. Auerbach believes, “parents need help to get a head start locating new, diversified products that children will enjoy using while they increase learning skills, enhance instruction and expand creativity.
Exquisite, award winning Scramble Squares® brain teaser puzzles for ages 4 to 104 are at least as popular with adults, seniors, teenagers and college students as they are with children. Although each Scramble Squares® puzzle has only nine 4″ x 4″ pieces, Scramble Squares® puzzles are Perhaps the World’s Most Challenging Puzzle™! At under $10.00 retail, Scramble Squares® puzzles make inexpensive, but highly entertaining and valued gifts for both men and women alike… for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, get well, graduation, travel and holidays. Scramble Squares® puzzles are Easy To Play, But Hard To Solve!™ Ninety-one exquisite styles of colorful original art are available on nature, sports, history, culture, geography, science, technology, occupations, fantasy, hobbies and activities, and more new styles are added every six months. Store displays come complete with the unique Scramble Squares® “5-Minute Challenge™” in store free puzzle giveaway promotion! The suggested retail price for a Scramble Squares® puzzle is $7.95 each.
The Scramble Squares® slogan, “Easy To Play, But Hard To Solve!™,” is very accurate. In the April , 2002 issue of Journal of Computing in Small Colleges, Central Plains Region, four mathematics researchers, Keith A. Brandt, Kevin R. Burger, Jason Downing and Stuart Kilzer of the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit university in Kansas City, Missouri, wrote in their paper on artificial intelligence (AI) computer programming, “The scramble squares puzzle is very complex. Indeed, there are 49 x 9! = 95,126,814,720 different arrangements of the nine pieces. This puzzle is actually an instance of what is known in AI as a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP).” Of the 95 billion different puzzle piece placement combinations, each Scramble Squares® has only one solution, and once a Scramble Squares® puzzle is solved, it is just as difficult to solve every other time it is played.
Each Scramble Squares® puzzle package includes a panel of fascinating factual information on the subject of the puzzle, as well as a trivia question and hidden answer, all packaged in a unique and handy heavy duty 101/2″ long x 53/4″ wide x 3/8″ deep resealable vinyl travel pouch, which may be collected and stored easily in a standard 3-ring binder. The vinyl pouch is crystal clear, enabling the consumer to see the extraordinary beauty of the puzzles’ realistic original art, while achieving a very high amount of retail value per square foot of store space for the merchant.
In 1996, Learning magazine selected Scramble Squares® as The Best Educational Game in its “Product Picks for Math.”
Scramble Squares® teaches:
o Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Skills
o Patience
o Perseverance
o Statistical Probabilities
o Cooperative and Solitary Productivity
Scramble Squares® also helps maintain mental agility, sharpness and memory in seniors and adults, while providing hours of quiet and stimulating entertainment.
b. dazzle provides a free 24″ x 36″ full color “WIN A FREE PUZZLE” promotional poster to any store offering its customers the Scramble Squares® “5-MINUTE CHALLENGE.™” Retailers can give a free Scramble Squares® puzzle to any customer who accepts the challenge and successfully solves the nine piece Scramble Squares® demonstration puzzle within five minutes. b. dazzle promptly replaces the stores’ puzzles awarded to consumers at no cost to the merchants. b. dazzle’s permanent wood counter, floor and slat wall displays each feature a demonstration puzzle on an interactive playing surface with an electronic timer to time consumers in the 5-MINUTE CHALLENGE.™ b. dazzle also offers a free, very compact, corrugated counter spinner display, including the timer and poster, with the purchase of any 72 Scramble Squares® puzzles in any quantity per style.
“Our company’s mission is to produce a wide range of beautiful, wholesome, entertaining and informative gifts for under $10.00 retail for all ages of adults and children that can be selected by style to appeal to the personal interests of the recipient ,” says b. dazzle founder, puzzle designer, president & CEO, Kathie Gavin.