This activity was developed by America’s Test Kitchen Kids. For this activity, try to use scallions with roots that are a ½ inch or longer — they will grow faster. You’ll find scallions in lots of recipes, from tacos to stir-fries to lettuce wraps and more. Instead, use them to grow more scallions in just a week!

Safety Considerations: Uses a knife

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 5 minutes, plus about 1 week growing time

Prepare Your Ingredients:

• Scallions
• Water

Gather Your Equipment:

• Chef’s knife
• Cutting board
• Tall drinking glass or Mason jar

1. Use chef’s knife to cut off scallion greens, leaving roots, white bulb, and 2 to 3 inches light green part intact. Save scallion greens for another use.

2. Add about 2 inches water to drinking glass. Place scallion bulbs in water, root end down (top of light green part should be sticking out of water). Put glass in sunny location.

3. Every day, discard water from glass and replace with fresh water.

4. Watch your scallions grow! When scallion greens have grown 5 to 7 inches above white and light green parts (after about 1 week), use chef’s knife to remove new scallion greens, leaving roots, white bulb, and 2 to 3 inches light green part intact.

5. If desired, repeat steps 2 through 4 to regrow and harvest scallion greens again. You can regrow a single scallion 2 times.

Scallions (sometimes called green onions) are part of a group of vegetables called alliums. They’re related to garlic, onions, chives, and leeks. The white part of the scallion grows underground and stores nutrients for the rest of the plant — the light and dark green parts — that grow above ground.

The scallion roots absorb water. That water, plus energy from the sun and nutrients stored in the scallion white, help grow a new scallion green — fast! The greens can grow as much as 1 inch per day! A scallion white contains enough nutrients to regrow scallion greens two more times before the plant runs out of fuel. Just think, you’re getting three scallions for the price of one!