1. What is Destination
ImagiNation®, or “DI”?
25 words or less
answer:
Destination ImagiNation® is a creative
problem-solving program that teaches kids theatrical and
technical skills, independence, leadership,
cooperation/teamwork, organization, sportsmanship,
brainstorming, and is fun!
30 word answer:
Destination ImagiNation®
teaches: creative problem solving & brainstorming, teamwork to
solve a complex challenge, how to balance time, budget &
creative ideas and how to “sell” their solution to Appraisers.
60-word response:
Destination Imagination®
is a creative problem-solving program for students. They work on
predetermined challenges. They work in teams and think up all
the ideas and do all of the work themselves with a
non-participatory adult team manager. The students learn
teamwork, innovation, solving problems on a budget, presentation
skills, and conflict resolution. Teams perform their solutions
at a local/state tournament.
84-word response:
The Destination
ImagiNation® School Program promotes divergent thinking and
develops creative problem-solving skills in students from
kindergarten through college. This program offers students at
every level - a unique opportunity to participate in challenging
and motivating activities both inside and outside of their
regular classroom curriculum. Under the guidance of an adult
team manager, students learn to work with others as a team.
They develop self-confidence by creating solutions, evaluating
ideas and making decisions. They develop their creative skills
through problem solving and independent thinking
108-words from the
Rules of the Road:
Destination ImagiNation®
is a community-based, school-friendly program that builds
participants’ creativity, problem solving, and teamwork in
enjoyable and meaningful ways. The goals of Destination
ImagiNation® are to:
·
Foster creative and critical thinking
among all participants
·
Learn and apply Creative Problem
Solving method and tools
·
Develop teamwork, collaboration, and
leadership skills
·
Nurture research and inquiry skills,
involving both creative exploration and attention to detail
·
Enhance and apply written and verbal
communication and presentation skills (both impromptu and
sustained)
·
Promote the recognition, use, and
development of many and varied strengths and talents
·
Encourage competence in, enthusiasm
for, and commitment to real-life problem solving
140-word answer:
Destination ImagiNation® is about teaching
children how to work together on teams, to tap into their
creativity, and to find innovative and unique solutions to
complex and difficult Challenges. At the same time “DI” helps
students learn the art and skill of thinking on their feet,
using what they have and improvising the rest, and being
creative problem solvers. When it is presented well, empowers
students and teaches them that no challenge is too big, or too
hard or too complex to be solved. The process that teams go
through to solve the Destination ImagiNation® Challenges truly
can change their lives. Most of our kids never use the words "I
can't" after they have solved a Destination ImagiNation®
Challenge.... more often they are heard saying "Let me have a
look - I think I can ....."
or "Let me try..."
256-word answer:
Destination ImagiNation®
is a creative problem-solving program that benefits children
from the age of 5 through college. We are non-profit and
volunteer run. We're active all over the U.S. and in many
countries around the world.
The heart of our program
is the Challenges. Destination ImagiNation® produces 6
Challenges every year (an open-ended problem with a set of
rules). There is one Challenge especially for kindergarten-age
children (Rising Stars!).
The students start
working on one of the Challenges in the early fall/winter and
present their solution at a local Tournament in late
winter/early spring. Each year we have Challenges that focus on
technical skills, such as creating an obstacle course for eggs
or a roller coaster for tennis balls, or
theatrical/improvisation skills, such as creating an elaborate
skit about visiting another country. There is more than one
solution to a Challenge.
The program is kid-driven
and team powered. Teams of up to seven students work with an
adult Team Manager to solve the Challenge they have chosen. The
students, not the adults, plan, research and execute their
solution to the Challenge - they write scripts, compose music,
build structures, engineer technical devices, fashion costumes,
paint backdrops, make props and choreograph their performance.
Then they sell their solution to a panel of Appraisers at the
Tournament.
In the process, students
learn teamwork, negotiation and compromise. The team members
struggle with personalities, deadlines, rules, outside
pressures, money constraints and peer pressure. This teaches
strategic life skills. Colleges and employers look for the
students that have developed these skills.
An Official 339 word
explanation: Destination Imagination® at a Glance:
Destination
ImagiNation® is the world’s largest creativity and problem
solving program for kids, with more than 200,000 students in
47 US states, 15 countries and Canadian provinces participating
annually.
Destination
ImagiNation® helps kids develop a unique and critical skill
set by emphasizing:
Creativity –
Brainstorming, Creative & critical thinking skills,
collaboration and presentation skills.
Problem Solving – Project
management, knowledge application, and confidence.
Teamwork – time
management, conflict resolution, and research skills.
Although this is the
fifth program year under the brand name Destination ImagiNation®,
officials and volunteers who organize the annual program have
more than 20 years’ experience creating quality problem
solving programs for kids.
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. In many places, it is
a curriculum staple and also very popular in home school
situations.
The Destination
ImagiNation® program helps kids build important, lifelong
skills, like problem solving, teamwork and divergent thinking.
Our teams solve two types of Challenges within the program year.
The Team Challenge involves structural, technical or
theatrically 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 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.
Corporate America
believes in Destination ImagiNation®! Our program has had
and continues to have sponsors such as: National Dairy Council®,
3M, Velcro® USA Inc., Philips® Consumer Electronics, Inc., Best
Buy® and Sam Goody®, and the American Institute for Foreign
Study® (AIFS).
Sponsorship opportunities
exist at the international and local levels.
2. What Does Creative Problem Solving
(CPS) Really Mean?
Creative problem solving
(CPS) involves combining brainstorming, creative thinking,
critical thinking, and implementation of the ideas generated. If
someone can’t think of an example of creative problem solving,
suggest that the Apollo 13 astronauts are alive because of
creative problem solving. At one point, they needed a round
filter to fit in the slot for a square one. The engineers on
earth had to creatively solve the challenge using only the items
that the astronauts had available to them. This was truly the
case of CPS saving lives!
What are the parts of Destination
ImagiNation®?
The Destination
ImagiNation® program asks teams to creatively solve two
different kinds of Challenges, each with its own purpose and
educational focus. The two Challenges, or components, are called
the Team Challenge (Central Challenge and Side
Trips) and the Instant Challenge. Teams present their
solutions to both Challenges at a Tournament where the solutions
are evaluated by friendly people we call “Appraisers.”
For the more
exacting answer, here is some more specific info from the
Program Guide:
Team Central Challenge
·
Purpose: Encourages development of
Creative Problem Solving techniques, teamwork, and creative
process over a long period of time (usually several months).
·
Educational Focus of Central
Challenge: The project undertaken by the team is
curriculum-based and focused on one or more of the following
areas: Theatrical/Literary/Fine Arts Elements,
Technical/Mechanical Design, Structural Design, Improvisational
Techniques.
·
Each of the six Central Challenges
involves a research component and an Improvisational component.
·
One or more of the six Challenges
involves an international and/or intercultural theme.
Side Trips
·
Purpose: Encourages participants to
discover and showcase their collective interests, strengths, and
abilities as a team and as individuals, and allows them to
develop that showcase over a long period of time.
·
Educational Focus of Side Trips:
Based on the educational theory of multiple intelligences, which
in part emphasizes allowing participants to find their own best
ways to present what they have learned.
·
Allows teams total freedom to develop
elements of their own choosing and to highlight areas of
strength that are not brought forth in the Central Challenge
requirements.
·
Allows/Encourages teams to recognize
and make the most of each individual’s abilities/interests.
Instant Challenge
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.
·
Purpose: To put team’s creative
problem solving abilities, creativity, and teamwork to the test
in a short, time-driven Challenge.
·
Educational Focus of Instant
Challenge: The team’s use of creative problem solving
strategies, assessment and use of available materials, and
teamwork under tight time constraints.
·
Encourages teams to develop creative
problem solving and time management strategies, performance and
improvisational techniques.
·
Develops the ability to quickly assess
the properties of provided materials, and learn how to
creatively manipulate materials for a unique solution.
What
are the goals of Destination ImagiNation?
UNOFFICIAL GOAL: The goal
of Destination ImagiNation® is to help children learn that
through a combination of creativity, teamwork & tenacity,
that they can develop creative solutions to complex
problems completely on their own.
3. How do I Start the Program in My
School?
If you are looking for
school support, approach the school administration or get a
teacher excited about the program. That could help free up
official school sponsorship status and/or funds. However, know
that any community organization (or an individual) can start a
Destination ImagiNation® team. Often schools provide
educational, facilities and financial support to teams – giving
teachers time to help Destination ImagiNation® teams or manage a
team themselves, space for teams to meet at the school, or
financial support by purchasing memberships, giving teams money
or helping teams that advance to state/global finals.
4. Where Can I Go to Get Information
About the Program?
You can go to the official Destination
Imagination® web site at
www.destinationimagination.org, or you can visit your
Affiliate or Regional web site, which are posted on the
Destination Imagination® web site. You can also call your
Regional or Affiliate Director.
5. How Do We Join and Get Started?
Purchase a Destination
ImagiNation® Passport -- Purchase the Passport by logging onto
DION at
www.destinationimagination.org. Follow the directions to
purchase a membership/passport.
Choose from either a:
- $100 for an Individual Team Passport
(ideal for small schools, community groups, homeschool groups,
etc.), or
- $175 5-Pak that allows up to 5 teams
(ideal for schools, organizations, after-school programs,
etc.).
2. Get a team of kids
together (up to 7 students) and find an adult Team Manager
(older than 18 years old).
3. Download the
Challenges and Rules of the Road from the Destination
Imagination® web site at
www.destinationimagination.org.
4. Start getting together
at meetings and doing some team building exercises, Instant
Challenges and working on the Central Challenge.
5. Check your local or
Affiliate Destination ImagiNation® site for information and
dates for Team Manager trainings, training for students (DI
Skills Day, IC/Improv Days, Construction 101, etc.), Tournaments
and any local meetings.
6. How do I get a Passport Number?
Purchase a membership
passport -- Purchase the membership passport by logging onto
DION at
www.destinationimagination.org. Follow the directions
to purchase a membership/passport.
Choose from either a:
-$100 for a single team
membership (ideal for small schools, community groups,
homeschool groups, etc.)
-or $175 5-pack allows up
to 5 teams (ideal for schools, organizations, after-school
programs, etc.).
7. Who Pays for This?
Your school, PTA, gifted
program, YMCA, 4H club, house of worship, homeschool group,
after-school program, community organization, your family – it
all depends on who’s name the passport is in.
8. How Much Does It Cost? How Do I
Fund It? Is it Expensive for the Amount of Kids Involved?
Destination ImagiNation®
is a lesson in VALUE costing
less than $5 per student per year!
The initial purchase of a
membership is $100 (for a single team) to $175 (for up to 5
teams). That cost is usually paid by a sponsoring organization
(school, church, YMCA, homeschool group, etc.) or by the team
itself (through fundraising or a division of the cost among team
members).
Each Challenge has a
maximum cost - but that only counts the items that make it onto
the performance stage. Teams have been known to change themes
(after props and costumes are made); change costumes, props and
backdrops several times before they compete; or go through LOTS
of practice materials as they learn how to use a saw, build a
structure from balsa wood or sew a costume using expensive
materials. On the other hand, many teams are excellent at
finding items in their attic or at secondhand stores, reuse
materials they have already used once and generally are frugal
with their resources. Teams that are using their own money tend
to spend too much money – as it is coming out of their own
pockets. So, to answer the question, the Challenge can cost $100
or less - or a whole lot more, depending on the team itself.
Teams find their funding
in a variety of ways:
·
Schools or sponsoring organizations
may give teams money to use; and/or they may donate space for
the team to use.
·
Teams may ask each team member to pay
a certain amount of money up front to fund projects; team
members may be asked for more money if they change their
solution several times and more resources are necessary.
·
Teams may fund-raise to get the money
they need. Some schools may cooperate with fundraising.
·
Items may be purchased at regular
stores, at discount stores, at secondhand stores, Goodwill, or
they may be found in dumpsters, the attic, closets or the
basement. All used items (other than "free" items such as
newspaper and cardboard) must be assessed a fair-market garage
sale price, no matter the source, even if they have been
donated.
·
For snacks, many teams ask either
parents to alternate bringing snacks; or everyone brings snacks
at the beginning and then they are stored and used as necessary;
or a snack fund may be started and one or more adults buy snacks
each meeting.
9. How is This Different Than Other
Programs Available to Our Kids?
While
any child would be lucky to participate in most programs of this
type, Destination ImagiNation® is a non-profit, volunteer-run,
child-centric organization. Every aspect of the program, by
design, is extremely responsive to the membership, and most
important, to the students in our programs. We maintain
communities to share our best practices, as well as globally
collaborating on areas of improvement. The result is a very
child-friendly program that rewards teams, within the rules, for
their creativity, teamwork and innovation.
Our success
is reflected in the Destination ImagiNation Alumni group, or DIA.
The growing numbers of our alumni in DIA maintain year-round
contact at collegiate and professional levels for years to come,
and are instrumental volunteers in the program at all levels.
|
