What is Destination Imagination®?
Vision
To be the global leader in teaching the creative process from imagination to innovation.
Mission
To develop opportunities that inspire the global community of learners to utilize diverse approaches in applying 21st Century Skills and creativity.
The Destination Imagination® program encourages teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus, and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the arts, and service learning. Our participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. Teams may showcase their solutions at a tournament.
About the program
Destination Imagination is an educational program where student teams solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions at tournaments. In working to solve Challenges, teams learn important life skills like time management, collaboration, conflict resolution, and creative and critical thinking.
Who
Up to 7 members can be on a competitive team, and students from kindergarten through university level participate. Each team needs an adult Team Manager.
What
Teams solve an open-ended Challenge that addresses a specific area of the curriculum, such as Technical, Scientific, Fine Arts, Improvisational, Structural, or Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learners Challenge that allows participants to develop social and problem-solving skills.
When
Each season takes place from September through May. Depending on the Challenge, teams typically spend 2 to 4 months developing and practicing their Challenge solutions.
Where
The team’s solutions are assessed at regional, state or country tournaments. While most schools run DI as an after school program, some school districts incorporate the program into their electives curriculum.
Why
Teams in our program learn higher order thinking and improve in creative thinking, critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. Our participants experience the creative process, develop new friendships and learn to work together.
How
Teams choose one of seven Challenges. Click here to preview the Challenges. After weeks spent creating and developing their solutions, they go to a tournament. Top-scoring teams advance, and the top tier goes to our Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of creativity.
For more information on getting started, click here to visit our Start a Team page.
