Green Balloon Club Season 1, Episode 17: Basil the kitten

1

Meeting the Green Balloon Club

Lily-Rose, Ant, Cat, Jay, Sky and Skipper the dog meet at the foot of the Green Balloon in a clubhouse, made from recycled bottles and boxes.

30 min

2

Animals under the water

The kids find out about animals under the water.

30 min

3

Dragonflies

The team find out about fruit and dragonflies and travel over the Scottish Highlands to find out what wildlife lives there.

30 min

4

Bugs hunt/ Isles of Scilly

The gang are on a bug hunt and Jelly is visiting the Isles of Scilly.

30 min

5

Lily-Rose plants nasturtiums

Lily-Rose plants some nastertiums and find out about the night-time creatures with Cat.

30 min

6

The team go to the coast

The team go to the coast to find out about the wildlife living there.

30 min

7

Ant's special visitor

Ant brings a very special visitor to the club

30 min

8

Heathland

The balloon travels over heathland and the children look out for wildlife.

30 min

9

Busy bee boogie

The team discover a forest of flowers and the ground crew learn how to do a buzzy bee boogie.

30 min

10

Under the sea

The balloon is flying over the coast and the team explore under the sea.

30 min

11

Sweet lavender

The team discover how sweet lavender is, what a rat's skull looks like and Nature Chris is being put through an army assault course.

30 min

12

All the senses

The Green Team use all their senses to explore the world around them.

30 min

13

Building a nest

Jelly sends in her special report as she finds out what it is like to hug a tree. Jay and Ant will be showing us how tricky it is building a nest and Cat and Lily-Rose will be making paper cup squirrels.

30 min

14

Life on the waterways

The Green Team are finding out about life on the waterways and Cat finds out about water voles. Jelly is spotting her very first Jay in Bill's garden.

30 min

15

Mud festival in Wales

The balloon is heading to a mud festival in Wales and the green team are having lots of messy fun with compost and clay.

30 min

16

Canal boat

Jelly meets up with Green Balloon Club members Louie and Stanley for a trip on a canal boat and look at the wildlife along the banks.

30 min

17

Basil the kitten

The Green Team have a special visitor with them in the balloon. Basil the kitten has come to Balloon Club with Cat, and the team look at how he is like his larger African cousins.

30 min

18

Apples

Today Jelly is harvesting apples in an orchard while Lily-Rose and Ant are starting a planting experiment to see if they can grow an apple tree. Cat and Jay are finding out about deer with the help of Green Balloon Club members Melina and Naureen.

30 min

19

Owls/ the seashore

The Green Team find out about owls and Club Members Ellie, Jodie and Erin meet a tawny owl. The Ground Crew check out what wildlife can be found on the seashore at this time of year and even try a bit of snorkelling.

30 min

20

Halloween

It is Halloween and there are some spooky goings-on in the Green Balloon. Jelly visits Bill to see if her pumpkin has grown big enough to become a lantern, and looks for bugs in Bill's garden. Cat finds out about bats and asks why people find them scary. Also, the Green Team take on the challenge of the Tower of Flour.

30 min

21

Birds in Autumn

As part of the Autumnwatch season Green Balloon Club team are having a good look at Autumn - how the leaves change colour and whether it is possible to preserve their lovely shades. Jelly pays a visit to Bill Oddie and finds out what's happening in his bird boxes at this time of year. Many birds migrate now, but Jay and the Ground Crew have a look at the ones that stay at home and find out how experts research their lives.

30 min

22

Wild about woods

This week the Green Team are going wild about woods. Green Balloon Club member Ralf is reporting from a woodland event, finding out what fun can be had in your local wood.

30 min

23

Hibernating birds

The Green Team are learning about hibernation and Jay is finding out if birds hibernate. Ant looks at hibernating insects and makes a bug box for minibeasts to sleep in over the winter. Lily-Rose is looking at how her seeds do in winter, while Cat finds the champion hibernator of them all - the dormouse.

30 min

24

Jumping salmon/ ferret

The Green Team marvel at just how athletic some creatures are. Green Balloon Club members from Cardiff show us what brilliant jumpers their local salmon are whilst the balloon is visited by a very athletic little friend: Georgina the ferret.

30 min

25

Mini Christmas trees/ badgers

The Green Team are starting to think about Christmas. They have an idea for making mini Christmas trees and Cat finds out about Pine Martens. Green Balloon Club members Josh, Oscar, Henry and Ben file a special report on winter vegetables, while the Ground Crew set out in search of badgers. We finally really get in the Christmas mood with our new song Whatever's Good at Christmas, featuring Bill Oddie and Jelly alongside the Green Team.

30 min

26

Christmas tree/ reindeer

Christmas is getting near and Sky has bought a Christmas tree for the Green Balloon. May and Alfie send in a report on choosing their Christmas tree too and the Green Team set about making decorations - festive snowflakes for the tree. Green Balloon club members Jorge and Zoe are lucky enough to meet some reindeer and send in a special report whilst Antoinne and Chantel set a seasonal spot to look out for this week. Bill Oddie, Jelly, Nature Chris and a host of children and animals join the Green Team for the fantastic Green Balloon Christmas song, Whatever's good at Christmas.

30 min

27

The Story of Christmas

Christmas is almost here and the Green Team are thinking about presents. They receive a beautiful book, The Story of Christmas, and within its pages see the story of the Nativity told by the animals. Children from Hillhouse Primary school team up with Nature Chris and the animals from Lee Valley Farm to bring us the story. Back in the balloon the team look at the Christmas presents they could provide for their local wildlife and make a beautiful star for the Christmas tree. After a seasonal spot, the team join up with Bill Oddie, Jelly, the Nativity cast, Bollywood dancers, Irish dancers and break dancers in the Green Balloon's Christmas song, Whatever's good at Christmas.

30 min

28

Happy New Year/ fun in the snow

The Green Team are all together again and full of wishes for the New Year. Jelly and her friends find out how to recycle your Christmas tree, whilst Green Balloon Club members, Alice, Oscar and Rory, are having fun in the snow. Cat and Skipper are finding out about squirrels and Ant and Lily-Rose make a New Year collage showing all the wildlife they hope to spot this year.

30 min

29

Lily-Rose hates winter

It is January and Lily-Rose is feeling fed up with the Winter. Her flowers have died and there is no wildlife around to spot. The Green Team set about showing her that there is still plenty to do and see in the winter.

30 min

30

Birds in winter

The Green Balloon Club have a good look at the birds in the winter garden. Cat and Lily-Rose are making comical dancing birds and we have a close look at stoats who are also great movers. Green Balloon Club members Amy and Ellie set another widespread bird as this week's spot and finally the whole team imagine what it would be like to go flying South like a migrating bird.

30 min

31

The Green Balloon Club Pantomime

It is panto time in the Green Balloon. Join the Green Team as they tell the story of Lily-Rose Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolves. Green Balloon Club member Andrew shows us how to plant a tree and Bill Oddie introduces Jelly to some of the creatures that visit his garden.

30 min

32

Making bread

The Green Team learn how bread is made. Jelly files a special report from a flour mill and the team try their hand at making bread hedgehogs. Cat is finding out about real hedghogs while Green Balloon Club members from the Lee Valley are looking for winter wildfowl and set us a seasonal spot.

30 min

33

Blue tits

The first signs of Spring are starting to appear and birds are looking for places to build their nests and start a family. Jake is putting up a new home for his robins and introduces us to a family of blue tits. The Green Team have a look at the different homes that animals live in whilst Jelly visits some children in West Sussex who are making a wormery.

30 min

34

Lily-Rose's tooth

Lily-Rose has lost her first tooth and she brings it in to show the Green Team. So Ant in turn shows her his collection of animal teeth and they look at what jobs the different kinds of teeth do. Jelly and Bill set up a fantastic experiment to see if they can see a snail's teeth. Green Balloon Club members Ellie and Tilly find some beautiful garden birds - but not the sort you usually find in your back garden.

30 min

35

Weather with Nature Chris

The team are joined by Nature Chris and are having a weather day. They discover different ways of making rainbows and have a look at one of Britain's most brightly-coloured birds. Green Balloon Club members Megan and Ellie are out in the snow showing us how a hedge is planted, whilst Jelly and her friends are down on the farm to meet some racing pigs.

30 min

36

Skipper's birthday

The Green Team wonder when Skipper's birthday is, because she is a rescue dog and Cat does not know exactly when she was born. There is no time like the present, so the Team decide it is the perfect day to celebrate Skipper's birthday. Jelly and her friends visit the Dogs' Trust and find out about rescue dogs whilst Green Balloon Club Members Aaron, Alia, Lillas and Kyle report on the daffodils which have come into bloom where they live.

30 min

37

Creatures that communicate using vibrations

The Green Team are finding out about creatures that communicate using vibrations. Green Balloon Club members Lukasz, Tabitha and Xavier are on the trail of a greater spotted woodpecker, whilst Jelly and her friends head to Scotland to go dolphin spotting. The Green team find out about how spiders use their webs and even make a communication system of their own.

30 min

38

Ladybirds and hyacinths in Spring

Spring is on the way. Ant has found his first ladybird of the year; it looks as if they are coming out of hibernation. Lily-Rose's hyacinth has bloomed and Green Balloon Club members Malikah, Centaine and Zahra are finding first buds and shoots where they live. Sky starts off a bean seed experiment whilst Jelly is visiting some friends who are working in a kitchen garden

30 min

39

The lifecycle

The Green Team are finding out about the life cycle. Ant has brought in some pupas that he is watching, hoping that they will soon hatch into butterflies. Green Balloon Club members Maisie, Christopher and Jada have found some frogspawn in their local pond, whilst Jelly and her friends are checking out the bird life on the estuary and Jay is finding out about puffins.

30 min

40

Animal tracks

The Green Team are going tracking. Every creature makes a different print, but can they recognise them? Green Balloon Club members Joanne, Jack, Jonathan and Niamh are on the East Anglian coast looking for a beautiful bird called an Oyster Catcher. The Ground Crew set off on a tracking mission too and find something quite a bit larger. Cat finds out about Hares, whilst Lily-Rose and Ant make a peacock using their own prints.

30 min

41

City farm/ baby rabbits

Lily-Rose, Ant, Cat, Jay, Sky and Skipper the dog travel Great Britain in a green hot air balloon. The team have some very special visitors in the balloon: a pair of baby rabbits. Jelly and her friends set off to a city farm to discover what baby animals they have there, and at the same time get involved with some pig racing. Green Balloon Club members Ben, Elliot, Macey and Benjamin are planting some bulbs ready for summer whilst Lily-Rose is getting very excited about planting some vegetable seeds and growing her own dinner.

30 min

42

Dig In

The Green Team are joining the BBC's Dig In Campaign - time for some spring vegetable planting. Lily-Rose has a lovely new windowbox which she plants with carrots, beetroots, red lettuce and butternut squash, at the same time planting tomato seeds in a propagator. Ant and Cat think of a clever way to make seed markers from polystyrene food trays.

30 min

43

Toy farm/ baby animals/ incubator

Cat has brought a great toy farm to Club and the Green Team find out about baby farm animals. Green Balloon Club members Eddie, Joe and Bethany head off to a farm to find some baby animals and report back on them. Nature Chris has an amazing surprise for everyone - he's brought in an incubator. Could it be that a chick will hatch before their eyes? Jelly is visiting the Isles of Scilly and looking for seals - perhaps she will find a baby seal?

30 min

44

Bluebells/ planting on

The Green Team are amazed by just how fast things can grow. Green Balloon Club members Lydia, Thomas, Edward and Kimberley report on the beautiful bluebells in their local wood. The Ground Crew is up very early to listen to the dawn chorus. Jay and Cat find out how to replant their runner beans and kidney beans into larger pots as they have grown so much, whilst Lily-Rose and Ant find some clever ways of printing a vegetable garden

30 min

45

Stag beetles

Ant brings in in his prize model of a stag beetle and the team find out about Britain's biggest insect, sadly under threat. Green Balloon Club members Robert, Alexia and Joshua report on what they are doing to help build homes for stag beetles. Jelly visits Bill Oddie and they go on a bug hunt to see what they can discover in his garden.

30 min

46

Animals that live in dens

The Green Team have built a fantastic den inside the Green Balloon and are thinking about animals that live in dens and under the ground. Green Balloon Club members, Jazmin and Pandora, report on a family of foxes that have made a den in their Auntie's garden, whilst Jelly has her very own den made specially for her at a Forest School. Lily-Rose and Ant make beautiful butterflies to decorate their den and Club Members Alex and Rebecca set this week's spot which should be appearing in a tree near you right now.

30 min

47

Ocean in a box

The Green Team make their own nature worlds, and Cat and Ant make an ocean in a box. Jelly visits friends in the Scilly Isles and goes rockpooling. Also, Green Balloon Club member Harry visits his grandad's animal rescue centre and meets some tiny baby birds. Also, club members Rebecca and Christopher set the Spot of the Week.

30 min

48

Four seasons

The Green Team think about the four seasons and try to decide which is best. Could it be spring as it's full of new things? Could it be summer because it is such fun? Could it be autumn because it is so beautiful? Or perhaps it's winter because it's so exciting? Green Balloon Club member Nansi shows the flowers and birds around Cardiff cathedral, while Jack and Dhunya set a special spot of the week.

30 min