You may have noticed the herds of oddly dressed children roaming Iowa State’s campus these last few days.

Over 8,000 students from all over the world have traveled to the American heartland to participate in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, which Smithsonian Magazine describes as “a dizzying four-day thinkathon that looks like some kind of kooky cross between science fair, masquerade party, performing arts fest and the Olympics.”

Odyssey of the Mind is an international education program that has year-round competitions in an effort to provide creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college.

The participants, working in teams of seven or less, are introduced to unique challenges that range from building mechanical devices to interpreting Shakespearean classics through original playwriting. Teams are organized into divisions I, II, III and IV — elementary school, middle school, high school and college, respectively.

Each team works entirely on their own without the help of any adults, which gives each performance a creative uniqueness unlike any other. Youthful imagination becomes reality, materializing on stage as colorful costumes, clever props and witty one-liners.

The events officially began Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum with the opening ceremony, where over 15,000 people gathered, bursting with energy and excitement, the culmination of months of eager preparation.

Hilton was less of a coliseum and more of a disco club — kids and their parents danced wildly in the stands to “YMCA,” wore loony hats and wigs adorned with flashing lights with each state and country sporting their own unique theme.

Teams were introduced in traditional Olympian-style as they paraded around the stadium. A total of 46 states and countries are participating, 14 of which are international teams from places like India, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

Thursday marked the first day of competitions. All day long, six different events were held in buildings all over campus. Each competition was staffed by several official referees and timekeepers, all of whom were dressed equally as odd as the contestants.

At the Memorial Union, the “Ooh-Motional Vehicle” competition took place — a theatrical performance centered around a makeshift vehicle capable of programmed emotions.

Another competition, dubbed “Weird Science,” is a NASA sponsored event in which teams come up with new, unusual explanations of the many different scientific phenomena we experience on earth, like why hurricanes occur or why arctic sea ice is melting, and showcase their ideas through an original theatrical production.

One team from Palm Desert, Calif., put on a hilariously charming and creative show. Alyana Willis, 11, and five other schoolmates dressed as garden flowers performed a play that explained forest fires as originating from vengeful weeds that were not invited to “pollinating parties.” The team has done a lot to prepare for the competition.

“We’ve been working hard for the last eight or nine months,” Willis said. “We’ve been preparing by doing a lot of brainstorming and research. The Internet has helped a lot, and sometimes we watch videos of us performing.”

At the Fisher Theater, the “To Be or Not To Be” competition was held, where participants crafted a unique take on an existing Shakespeare play.

Gitika Wahal, 14, and four other schoolmates from Amity International School in New Delhi, India, reformed the famous “Hamlet” play into a performance titled “To Take or Not To Take,” a play in which a woman struggles with the possession of a powerful gem.

Odyssey of the Mind resonates deeply with Wahal and her teammates.

“By being a part of this, you become a better person altogether. It exposes you to different ideas and cultures … if you study abroad or maybe live somewhere else, I think that all of this will help us do that,” Wahal said.

Participants also took part in a “Spontaneous” competition, where teams enter a secret room one at a time and are presented with a problem that they are completely unprepared for. They must use teamwork, creativity and critical-thinking skills to solve the problem within the given amount of time.

Zion Deandrecarr, 12, of Wilmington, Del., was still glowing with excitement after he and his team emerged from the room, having successfully completed the problem. However, participants are expected not to discuss details about the competition, in order to maintain its element of secrecy.

“Come see me after the closing ceremony to find out about the ‘Spontaneous’ competition. We can’t say anything about it. It’s an Odyssey thing,” Deandrecarr said.

The Leid Recreation Center was transformed into a massive “Creativity Fest,” complete with carnival-style booth games, a hypnotist, face painting, balloon animals, and a pop-up marketplace where participants traded thousands of unique and shiny Odyssey of the Mind pins. Much like a card trading game, pins were displayed on towels laid out on the ground, whereupon participants walked around and shopped for the next addition to their pin collection.

NASA representatives stood underneath an enormous inflatable globe structure, where they gave out free posters, booklets and clever recipe packets containing ingredients and instructions for high-tech devices such as the “Phoenix Mars Lander” and the “James Webb Space Telescope.”

Next to the NASA booth was a wall portraying images and information about some serious problems that we face today, like water scarcity, urbanization and mountaintop mining.

Steve Graham, senior outreach specialist for NASA, showcased NASA achievements in technology in a presentation in Howe Hall auditorium. Wide-eyed children watched intently as Graham showed impressive animations and visuals of satellite imagery of Earth. Some animations depicted strong evidence of a warming global climate, emphasizing that global warming is a very serious problem that must be solved.

Graham, who is now participating in World Finals for his 12th time, believes in the purpose of Odyssey of the Mind.

“It fosters critical-thinking, which is inherent to the process of solving these problems we face today. … The earth is changing; the population is growing, and we need solutions to problems we don’t even know about yet,” he said.

A special part of Odyssey of the Mind called “Odyssey Angels” is a team selected by officials for their outstanding effort to help their community. This year, Pinetree Elementary School in British Columbia won the title for their inspiring aide to a charity foundation called PushForChange, an initiative to raise money for the Canadian homeless.

Joe Roberts, founder of the organization, speaks highly of Odyssey of the Mind.

“The very thing that creates the end result of homelessness is a fractured sense of self-worth. Odyssey of the Mind fosters self-worth, problem-solving skills and responsibility. It helps them believe in themselves and their ideas and their place in the world. And that is the most important thing we can do.”