Teams of up to seven students, from kindergarteners to college students, have worked together over the past year to solve a problem in a creative way while competing in Odyssey of the Mind.

The problems ranged from making a car without wheels to creating a song on a new instrument.

Around 17,000 people from all over the world will be at Iowa State from May 27 to May 31 for the world finals of Odyssey of the Mind.

Students are able to identify different situations and develop imaginative ways to solve them.

“Odyssey of the Mind teaches young people to embrace changes,” said Samuel Micklus, founder of Odyssey of the Mind. “It instills in youngsters an excitement about learning and an excitement about themselves and their ability to achieve what others might say is impossible.”

Micklus first developed the idea after giving his class an assignment to create a vehicle without any wheels. He graded his students based on originality and risk.

The community around Rowan University, where Micklus taught, heard of his assignments and was interested in learning more. Micklus then decided to create a program based on the popular assignments which evolved into Odyssey of the Mind.

This will be the eighth time the world finals have come to Iowa Sate. Visitors will be staying in nearby hotels and the university dorms, and they will be able to eat at the various dining centers.

The opening ceremonies, parade and awards ceremony will be at Hilton Coliseum. There will also be a graduation ceremony for those who are missing graduations to be at world finals.

There are about 800 teams participating in the finals.

“They competed in their regional- and state-level tournaments to reach world finals. Usually, they place first or second,” said Jennifer Veale, spokeswoman for Odyssey of the Mind. “They’ve had to work all year long on their solution and create their props. So they’ve worked for a long time to get to this point and its really the best of the best at world finals.”

For each problem, teams dress in costumes and have incorporated their own interests, like math, athletics, history and robotics, into their solutions.

Alan Strohmaier, state association director for Iowa, said that Odyssey of the Mind is a great program providing children with real-world problem solving skills.

‘It’s a great growth program for the kids,” Strohmaier said. “They learn creativity, they learn to work as a team, they have to come in under a budget and they have to fill out all of the paperwork and make sure the paperwork is done on time.”

Strohmaier and his wife coached their son’s team when he was just in fourth grade. Some 34 years later, he and his wife, along with their son, are still involved in judging these creative kids’ solutions.

“It’s something that just kind of gets in your blood and you want to do for the kids,” Strohmaier said.

Odyssey of the Mind gives students the confidence to work with others and express their ideas. It also allows them to compete against other teams, perform on stage, learn to finish within a time limit and come up with solutions to problems using many subjects of interest, Strohmaier said.

They are able to form friendships with others from across the world and learn about different cultures. It is not only about voicing their thoughts but also about working with others to create an improved and innovative society.