This indoor way to show your kids how vegetables grow is almost trippy! All you need is a head of romaine and a small glass jar. Then watch the magic happen.

Cut the leaves from the base of the romaine. Use the leaves for a big salad of course. I also gave my budding chef some of the leaves to play with in his set of pots and pans.

Meanwhile, trim the very bottom of the romaine head off thinly – this will help it absorb more water.

Here is a slightly skeptical Travis checking out the early stage of our experiment.

Place in a glass of water, making sure the base is completely covered, and place somewhere sunny. Change the water every day and watch your romaine sprout!

Within a day we had a few little leaves.

The picture at the top of this post shows growth after about 4 days. We can’t wait until we have enough for a fresh salad!

If you want to continue the fun, try the same experiment with a fennel bulb. You can also save the tops of carrots or radishes, place in a shallow dish with water, and watch for fresh greens to emerge. Thanks to Parents magazine for the idea!

Update: Here’s the lettuce about a week in, as tall as we let it grow. Honestly it was beginning to brown slightly around the edges, so I’m not sure I’d recommend growing it longer.

But needless to say, Travis was thrilled!