7 Team-Building Activities
By: Seila Saldivar, DI Volunteer Aside from practicing Instant Challenges, team-building exercises are a great way for teams to bond, learn more about each other, and learn to work as a team. The idea is not only to get your team to have as many experiences as possible, but to have different kinds of experiences. […]
Team Manager Tips: Introducing New Skills
By: Terry Branstetter I love when kids brainstorm. They really get it—not the least bit constrained by physics, costs, time, skills, or any well-established laws of nature—exactly as it should be. Your team’s ability to bring some of their awesome ideas into reality very much depends on their individual skills. Can the Team Manager help […]
5 Things to Do At Your Local Tournament
By: Andrew Whitmire, DI Alumnus So, your team has been working REALLY hard to complete your solution to your Team Challenge and practicing Instant Challenge in between. Your local tournament is coming up and you are getting super excited to not only present your solution but to also see all of the other teams that […]
3 Simple (But Important!) Instant Challenge Tournament Tips
By: Andrew Whitmire Growing up as a Destination Imagination participant, I always got psyched out at the thought of the Instant Challenge my team and I might face at the tournament. For many years, Instant Challenge was a big and scary unknown and I thought there was no way to prepare. However, that just isn’t […]
Not Ready for Your Tournament? Don’t Quit Now!
By: Dan Henderson, DI Volunteer You may be thinking, “Ugh. There’s no way my team will be ready for the tournament!” Well… you couldn’t be more wrong. I became a Team Manager in 1997. At the time, I was teaching at Cascade Elementary in Maryland and our school was doing Odyssey of the Mind. The principal was […]
How to Wow in the Central Challenge
By: Noam Eshed, DI Alumna It’s no secret that to get to Global Finals and succeed, your team needs to go above and beyond. You also know that’s much easier said than done. Here are some tips and suggestions to help improve your Challenge solution and unleash your creativity. Think Outside Your BoxYour Challenge box, […]
How to Evaluate Your Team’s Progress in Instant Challenge
By Marie Farley, Team Manager Every year, every team, in every level, in every Challenge has to compete in Instant Challenge (IC). It is the common denominator of all Destination Imagination (DI) Challenges. The skills IC teaches—leadership, time management, improvisational engineering, critical thinking, teamwork, and so many more—are too important for any team to pass […]
You Know You’re a DI Kid When…
By Liz Lohrmann, DI Alumna Destination Imagination (DI) allows each and every one of its participants to have incredible experiences from which they can learn. Here are a few experiences that every DI alum and participant can relate to: Are you a Destination Imagination alum? We want to hear your DI stories and tips for […]
How to Get Your Team to Focus
By Jennifer Andreachi, Team Manager There always seems to be a small window in which you can get your team to focus all at the same time. You may manage a team where some of your kids work better with certain members and not well with others. Some of your team members may struggle with […]
How Improv Skills Can Help Any Team
By Kirsten Merryman, Team Manager, Maryland When I first started managing a team doing the Improvisation Challenge for DI, I have to admit that I felt some despair. During the early days, a typical practice session would look something like this: Susie proposes an idea to solve the Challenge. In fact, she proposes twenty ideas […]
