Healthy Kids Challenge, a leading non-profit educating families to eat, move and enjoy a healthier balanced lifestyle, has announced the winners of their 8th annual Stirring Up Health national recipe contest that started last fall at the beginning of the new school year.

Almost 2,000 middle school students from across the country participated in creating or modifying existing recipes using healthy ingredients from the contest sponsor, Del Monte. Students were asked to incorporate Del Monte canned fruits, vegetables or tomato products as a primary ingredient.

The five winners included middle school classroom teams from New Jersey and Hawaii, as well as individual contestant winners from Hawaii, Ohio and Oregon.

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As the nation’s children settle in for another school year, many parents and teachers wonder how the summer break affected their children’s academic achievement.

VacationBetter.org announces a new analysis of a U.S. Department of Education study finding that children who travel over summer break – whether to a beach, historic site or a national park – did better in reading, math and general knowledge than their peers who didn’t vacation.

A series of analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between summer vacation travel and academic achievement in children entering first grade. Specifically, the study explored whether going on a vacation, the number of days spent on a vacation and places visited were linked to academic achievement in the areas of reading, mathematics and general knowledge. The results revealed a significant difference in academic achievement and taking a family summer vacation trip.

Children that traveled with their family over summer vacation scored higher on academic achievement assessment tests than those who did not travel. The days spent on family summer vacation trips had a modest significant relationship with academic achievement.

Lastly, children who visited plays or concerts, art or science museums, historical sites, beaches or lakes, national or state parks, and zoos or aquariums had significantly higher academic achievement scores than those who did not.

(Source) Press

Mom2MomTrader.com is a new website where moms connect on the latest mom to mom sales.

Mom to Mom sales in Michigan are growing and sales are being booked in advance. Mom to Mom organizers are using Mom2MomTrader.com to list these sales. The website is currently accepting mom to mom sales for the fall 2009 school year.

Mom sales are a great way that other moms can find gently used items at discounted prices. For more information about mom to mom sales please visit Mom2Momtrader.com.

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