Let the kids act crazy for a few minutes before attempting to start your meeting. When children get together for activities such as DI, they can get excited; giving them a chance to burn some of their energy will make the meeting more enjoyable for all (especially you, the team manager). If the weather is nice, the team might want to play a little kickball or just run around. If you must stay inside, do a physical activity like some jumping jacks, musical chairs or a game like hot potato.
Initiate an icebreaker. Even if kids know each other, their Destination Imagination team is a different environment, and an icebreaker helps kids get into the mindset that they are part of this team. Icebreakers also can serve to find out more about skills and interests of the least vocal team members. One icebreaker is to have them each imagine they are a bird or pilot -- where would they fly and why? Another option is to conduct a word association exercise -- the first student thinks of a word and passes a rock or trinket to the next who adds an associated word. Continue in this manner until they can no longer remember all of the words.
Conduct an instant challenge. Destination Imagination teams love these quick activities, and it gives them practice for their competitions. Instant challenges for practice can be made up by you, they can come from one of the Instant Challenge ideas books or you can find some for free in the DI Roadmap (see the link in References below).
Facilitate a discussion of where the team is in tackling their team challenge. This is a good time to review the team calendar as a reminder of upcoming competitions or meetings. Reviewing the calendar or task list can bring renewed focus to the team as they realize they don't really have long to finish their team challenge. This may be a good time to have a snack.
Provide time for working on the team challenge. Since adults cannot help the team solve their challenge, it may be helpful to just sit back and take notes. Be sure to keep track of time. The bulk of your DI meeting should be committed to working on the team challenge. If you notice that the team's progress has stalled, initiate another activity to blow off steam.
Gather the team for a closing activity. It is helpful to make your closing activity consistent. One closing activity that teams enjoy and benefit from is working on a song and dance that incorporates their team name and DI values. Ten minutes of practice and one performance for any parents or teachers around will be fun for the kids, and it lets them end on a positive note.