New Challenges for 2024-25 September 3, 2024 - Is your team ready for a new year of problem-solving and innovation? The 2024-2025 Challenges are now available! You can learn more about this year's Challenges on our . Teams can register now to get a complete copy of this year's Challenges. Visit our Start a Team page for the details. Every aspect of the… 
Countdown to the 2024 Maine Affiliate Tournament February 29, 2024 - The biggest day of the year is nearly here for Maine's Destination Imagination teams! The Maine Affiliate Tournament will be held at Piscataquis Community Secondary School in Guilford on March 16, 2024. Destination Imagination (DI) teams from around the world are gathering now at local tournaments to present their solutions to one the seven Challenges… New Challenges for 2023-24 September 17, 2023 - It's time for a new year of learning through creative problem-solving for pre-K, K-12, and university students! The latest batch of Destination Imagination Challenges for the 2023-2024 program season are now available. Many thousands of students have taken part in our programs over the years, and quite a few DI alumni come back to volunteer… 
New Affiliate Directors July 28, 2023 - Sandra Hardy and Craig Richardson are the new Affiliate Directors for Destination Imagination Maine. Sandra has been a Maine resident for several years, while Craig lives in New Hampshire. We have been the Affiliate Directors for New Hampshire for quite some time. Craig is also the Executive Director of NHICC, the nonprofit organization that runs… What is Destination Imagination?
Destination Imagination is a non-profit, volunteer-led, cause-driven organization. Its purpose is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. Approximately 200,000 youth make friends and learn the creative process through DI programs every year, and are supported by nearly 40,000 volunteers.
Destination Imagination’s programs are developed annually to ensure they are relevant and align to National Education Standards, STEM standards, ELA Common Core Standards, and Mathematics Common Core Standards. Every year, with the help of parent volunteers, educators, and subject matter experts, DI designs new and exciting Challenges for student teams to solve.
How does the DI Challenge Experience work?
DI fosters students’ curiosity, courage and creativity as they solve Challenges together as a team. A big part of our program is the Interference policy: in short, kids have to imagine, create and develop solutions on their own. Parents, Team Managers, family and friends can’t suggest ideas or force teams in certain directions. Outsiders can only facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge.
There are seven new Challenges to choose from each year. Each of the Challenges is developed by a team of educators and industry experts who target a particular area of the curriculum and its related standards of content and performance. The areas of focus include: Technical, Scientific, Fine Arts, Improvisational, Structural and Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learning Challenge that allows children to further develop their social skills and nurtures their curiosity and creativity.
The season takes place from September through May. Depending on the Challenge, teams typically spend 2 to 4 months developing and practicing their Challenge solutions. While most schools run DI as an after school program, some school districts incorporate the program into their electives curriculum.
After weeks spent creating and developing their solutions, the team solutions are assessed at regional, state, or international tournaments. Our tournaments provide the opportunity for participants to celebrate creativity with their peers and promote healthy competition. Every year, local volunteers help run 200 tournaments around the world. Top-scoring teams advance to their state or country tournament, also known as an Affiliate Tournament. The top tier teams from each Affiliate Tournament have the opportunity to participate in Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of creativity.
Participants learn and experience the creative process from imagination to innovation, which fosters their curiosity, courage and creativity. Students in our program learn higher order thinking and improve in creative and critical thinking while learning to work together as a team. Participants also have the opportunity to develop new friendships with students around the world.
How do we get started?
Our volunteers will answer any questions that you have about our programs. We can also help you to run a DI Information Night at your school.