Destination ImagiNation® At A Glance

 

 

Destination ImagiNation®, a product of Destination Imagination, Inc., is one of the world's largest creativity and problem solving programs for youth of all ages, with thousands of participants in 47 US states, 15 countries and Canadian provinces participating annually. It is operated by Destination Imagination, Inc., a 501C3 non-profit corporation located in Glassboro, New Jersey. Although this is the fifth program year under the brand name Destination ImagiNation®, the former corporate name of the organization was OM Association, Inc. which has existed as a non-profit organization since 1983 and has had now more than 20 years experience creating quality problem solving programs for kids.

Destination ImagiNation® helps kids develop a unique and critical skill set by emphasizing:

Creativity

Problem Solving

Teamwork

Brainstorming

Project Management

Time Management

Creative & Critical Thinking Skills

Knowledge Application

Collaboration

Presentation Skills

Confidence

Research Skills

Destination ImagiNation® is not just an extracurricular activity, it is an extension of a Destination ImagiNation® brand of curriculum which draws on Creative Problem Solving strategies and the multiple intelligences of students to use what they have learned in the classroom in new and creative ways.

The Destination ImagiNation® program helps kids build important, lifelong skills, such as problem solving, teamwork and divergent thinking. Our teams solve two types of Challenges within the program year. The Central Team Challenge involves structural, technical or theatrical oriented Challenges and takes several months to solve. Throughout that time the teams also practice improvisational Instant Challenges, which stimulate the team’s ability to think quickly and creatively with only minutes to prepare solutions.
When tournament time rolls around, each team’s score reflects its Central Team Challenge performance plus its response to an Instant Challenge.

Creativity isn't just a school year activity. Many state, local and international affiliates offer creativity activities for kids year-round, including summer camps that incorporate all of the fun and thoughtful activities that make learning interesting.

Destination ImagiNation® is a membership-based organization. On a yearly basis, thousands of committed volunteers, parents, educators, and former program participants generously offer their time and effort in support of the program. Many of these volunteers serve as Team Managers, Program Coordinators, Tournament Officials as well as Affiliate and International Board members.

Corporate America believes in Destination ImagiNation®! Our program receives significant corporate support from several important organizations, including National Dairy Council (our International Sponsor) as well as 3M, Philips Consumer Electronics, Inc., Best Buy and Sam Goody. Sponsorship opportunities exist at the international and local levels.

 More about DI

You've heard of spelling bees, quiz bowls, robotics competitions and science fairs. In fact, there is probably a special event for every subject taught at school. Well, Destination ImagiNation is none of those things – and all of those things! Destination ImagiNation is a place where kids take what they know and what they are good at and learn to apply it to solve challenges, working together and cooperatively with a team and pushing the limits of imagination to best not their competition, but themselves.

Destination ImagiNation is a community-based, school-friendly program that builds participants' creativity, problem solving, and teamwork in enjoyable and meaningful ways.

Teams of five to seven members work together to apply creativity, critical thinking and their particular talents to solve a Team Challenge.

The Destination ImagiNation Team Challenge is a Challenge that is solved over a period of eight weeks or more. There are five competitive Team Challenges from which teams may choose, each with its own educational focus. Each Team Challenge is designed to be open-ended and solvable in many ways and on many levels.
Challenge A: Technical/Mechanical
Challenge B: Theater Arts/Science
Challenge C: Theater Arts/Fine Arts
Challenge D: Theater Arts/Improvisation
Challenge E: Structural & Architectural Design

There is also one non-competitive Team Challenge, called the Rising Stars! Team Challenge, for preschool and early elementary children.

There are two parts to the Team Challenge: the Central Challenge and Side Trips. The Central Challenge is a set of required elements that all teams must complete. Side Trips are two additional elements teams create and include in their Presentation.

Want to learn more about Team Challenges? Click here.

The Destination ImagiNation Instant Challenge is a Challenge teams are asked to solve in a very short period of time at their Tournament, without knowing ahead of time what the Challenge will be. Teams go into a room and are given a Challenge and the materials with which to solve it. They use their thinking-on-their-feet skills to produce a solution, usually in a period of five to eight minutes!