Destination Imagination?

[karne]

I wonder if anyone has children who have participated in Destination Imagination, or a similar program?  We are looking into this for my elementary ages ds.  I'd love to know if anyone has some experience pro/con to share?

Thanks.

[lauren]

Can you describe it a little more? I guess if someone has participated they would "know" but I've never heard this term. Sounds kind of cool! I don't think it's come to my neck of the woods.

[karne]

www.idodi.org

This is the umbrella website, and then there are state specific websites.  I got some responses in the gifted forum, which was helpful, so if you want to close this thread, that's fine.

FWIW, it looks like a good organization-creative, group problem solving.  At the elem level it appears to be non-competitive, which is nice.

[lauren]

Sounds cool! Kind of like Odyssey of the Mind and with a different twist. So if you can't find anyone doing the program you're looking for, you might also want to check out Odyssey.

http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/

[melissa17s]

I had not heard of Destination Imagination before your post Karne, but it made me think of http://usfirst.org/ .  Although slightly different than either Destination Imagination or Odyssey of the Mind, it does encourage creative solutions to a "problem" and you get to play with legos. Our friends daughter participated and her group was able to create a prosthetic for a young child.  They were very successful and had really neat experience.  

[erinsmom1996]

My daughter participated in Destination Imagination during middle school and really enjoyed it. It is great for children who are creative and enjoy thinking out of the box. It can take a lot of time depending on the practice schedule set up by the school sponsor and the level that your child is at in school. However, I think it is a great experience for children.

[etucsitj]

I did Destination Imagination for 7 years and it was so much fun! I met some of my best friends through it and the team builds a really strong bond because a good skit can take about 2 hours a week at the beginning and then consume about 35 hours the week before competition. So by that time they really start to become your second family. But, then again, my school was really competitive about it. :)

Some of my best memories are staying up all night, even though you're completely exhausted.  It gives you great work ethic and brings out creativity that the schools won't. It's a LOT of hard work but it is definitely worth it. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have started in DI even earlier.