nagpur this group of children grows vegetables and tends to animals but theyre not playing farmville on facebook students of gateway international school in padur have started farming a patch of land on campus and plan to sell the harvest to their parents the school which follows an american syllabus has students from different countries including malaysia and philippines and those who have relocated from the us d pritesh a middle school student said rearing a pet and farming was a stress buster i have understood how farmers work as we grow the vegetables ourselves we dont feel like wasting them it is a very interesting hobby he says the school has a 10acre campus and child gets a small patch of land to make the children self reliant and promote a spirit of brotherhood among children of various nationalities we asked them to grow vegetables they were thrilled with the idea said grace alwyn principal of the school the students have cultivated ladyfinger and spinach they give part of the harvest to us and we cook it for them we are planning to ask the parents to buy the greens cultivated by the children this will also teach them the importance of money she said the students are also encouraged to rear pets they have adopted parrots pigeons doves and rabbits they feed the animals in the morning and check on them through the day this creates a sense of care and sharing as well as responsibility this same attitude will be shown towards humans when they grow up said alwyn arundhati swamy a family and student counsellor said activities such as gardening and rearing pets have a positive effect on children emotionally and cognitively through farming they are exploring nature and learning to respect the environment by rearing pets they develop a caring attitude these are fun ways to inculcate values in children she said