I did both Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination, specifically the structure building competition. Had a blast with OM, but by the time I was doing DI I was getting into high school and everything was too stressful to be as much fun.
As a youngun though, absolutely would recommend it
do you think the lads would like it? i mean based on what you know of them which is very little. assuming they are like their parents tho. kind of extroverted inside kids who like history and puns
just saw your other replies and didn't realize it was about enrolling your kids in it, i'd still recommend it i'm happy that i did it even if i wanted to be at home watching tv instead sometimes
well they're only 17 months old at the moment so we do have a little while yet before any decisions need be reached. i was just looking up fun social stuff they could do and that really sounds like a good way to make friends
you might (might) like tinkergarten, i’m sure there’s a group near you. sort of an instructor-led nature study playgroup. we’ve been doing it since our son was 2, good social activity for all
it looks like it's... not a thing? altho their website is very bad so i'm having a hard time understanding if this means the playgroups don't exist either
Hi there- I stumbled across your post. Yes, Highlights bought out TG and then dropped the in person classes. However, many Tinkergarten leaders around the country have continued classes, but under their own businesses/names.
I coached it for a year or two, though in our locality it's called Destination Imagination. Apparently there was a schism, OM is run for-profit, DI is a non-profit.
First year I was on a traditional "Build a thing" type team with a few other coaches.
Second year, I was coaching a middle school team solo. I convinced the kids to do the Improvisational Challenge, because that would require less power tools.
i did! when i went to county school, changed to a TAG program when i moved to city schools (this was all in southern OR). main thing i remember is making a toothpick bridge and my teammate breaking ours the morning of the competition. apparently i’m still salty about that like 28 years later
we didn’t do a great job but i mean, c’mon! but we did get sick odyssey of the mind shirts with like leaping orcas on them. VERY early-mid 90s PNW shit. pretty sure my dad still has his…
i don’t remember him coaching, exactly, but he might have been like a chaperone. it was at my elementary school but wasn’t through the school, exactly, even though we were recruited by teachers? i’ll ask him about what he remembers
ok so upon consulting my papá it was basically an after school program with some occasional inter-school events. he remembered we did an improv thing like someone mentioned up thread, and then there was a big poetry thing too where we learned to write and share haikus
Yes. I looked up my state website about it (I am in GA) and it said you just have to get a team together, pay dues etc. So it does not have to be through school I suppose.
as a shy 6th grader i found the improv soo excruciating. i was there to build bridges from spaghetti and haaated the performance stuff at the time. but it did help me open up and get through that awkward phase so i appreciate it in retrospect
i would have adored the improv, i was already heavily steeped in old marx bros and monty pythons flying circus VHS tapes i got from my coolest uncle. i would have loved it so much i got mad at the other kids for not loving it enough lol
well everyone else on my team had that knowledge except me, so i couldn’t figure out how they were all on that same wavelength or how to get on it. i didn’t even know that “improv” existed outside of OM until much later in life, haha
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As a youngun though, absolutely would recommend it
https://tinkergarten.com/blog/july-30-update-to-community#:~:text=Though%20Highlights%20for%20Children%20values,to%20support%20at%20this%20time.
I’d be happy to ask around about ongoing classes near your general location if you’d like. :)
First year I was on a traditional "Build a thing" type team with a few other coaches.
I seem to recall we won our region that year.