What is Odyssey of the Mind?
Odyssey of the Mind is a non-profit, international creative problem-solving program for students, Kindergarten through College! The philosophy behind the Odyssey of the Mind program is that creativity can be learned. Open-ended problems cover many disciplines such as classics, performance, vehicle, structure, and technical. All solutions are done entirely by team members and outside assistance is not allowed! Students learn lifelong skills such as teamwork, project management and divergent thinking. Students learn to examine problems and identify the real challenge without limiting the possible solutions and their potential success. In Odyssey of the Mind there are no wrong answers! Learn more here: Learn More!

Thousands of teams composed of students from throughout the U.S. and around the world participate in the program. In Odyssey of the Mind, teams of 5 to 7 students use imagination and innovation to invent solutions to challenging problems and present their solutions at competition. Teams are organized in divisions based upon grade level. There is also a non-competitive Primary problem designed to introduce very young students to creative problem solving. Each team chooses one of 6 problems which range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.

Teams take their solutions to a tournament on a state and World level. Participating in a tournament encourages teams to work at their full potential, gives them an opportunity to showcase their solutions and exposes them to the ideas of others. There are three elements to the competition:

Long Term problem: Teams members work together over an extended period of time to create a solution to one of the six long term problems that are released each year.
Style: This is an elaboration of the long term solution.
Spontaneous: Teams are given an on-the-spot problem to solve at the tournament.
Primary teams (grades K-2) are non-competitive but each team also participates in the tournament in each of the three elements. Although the Primary problem is designed to introduce the youngest participants to the program, children in grades K-2 can elect to be on a competitive Division I team instead.