Odyssey of the Mind

When I was a little girl, I was involved with Olympics of the Mind.  I LOVED it!  The name has since been changed to Odyssey of the Mind.  When I found out that our elementary school offered this as an after-school activity, I was anxious for Morgan and Ethan to get involved.  I explained to them how it was a creative play that they would get to make up (with their team) and present to judges.  Immediately, Morgan didn't want to do it.  That's the age she seems to be at.  But, Ethan's mind was whirling.  He already had ideas and was in the computer room drawing them.  I was energized by his enthusiasm and realized that this would be a PERFECT activity for my non-academic, yet highly creative son.  So, I volunteered to coach his team.

Why do I jump into these things feet first?!  I'm still asking myself.  I was given a team of 7 children.  Four kindergartners, one first-grader and two second graders.  I went into it with the same enthusiasm that I had at first, but I was thrust into reality when all chaos broke loose during the second meeting.  Suddenly I realized that it is very hard to focus a group of 7 children who have been in school all day, and that three kindergarten boys together can be overwhelming to control.  So, I came up with plan B and then moved on to plan C, and I am slowly finding that this may just be possible!  It has been very fun to see what can come out of the creative mind of a child, and now I am getting excited to see what their final creation will be.

The team building towers out of straws, toothpicks, and mailing labels.  It's tough to do!