Green Balloon Club facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Green Balloon Club |
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| Genre | Children's |
| Created by | Claire Bradley |
| Developed by | Gary Stevenson |
| Starring | Jake Pratt Isabella Blake-Thomas Debbie Korley Adam Wells Thai Murray-Edwards Aliex Yuill Chris Howard Bill Oddie |
| Narrated by | Gary Martin |
| Theme music composer | Paul Mossel |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 63 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Graham Lawson |
| Producer(s) | Claire Bradley |
| Production location(s) | Capital Group Studios Gruffalo Studios |
| Camera setup | Tony Bragg Derek Gruszeckyi |
| Running time | 20 Minutes |
| Distributor | BBC Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBeebies |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 20 June 2008 – 29 May 2009 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | CBeebies Springwatch/CBeebies Autumnwatch |
Green Balloon Club was a fun BBC children's TV show that first aired on CBeebies on June 20, 2008. It was all about exploring nature and wildlife in the UK.
Contents
What is the Green Balloon Club?
The show featured four main child presenters, each with a special interest in nature.
- Lily-Rose loved flowers and plants.
- Ant was an expert on tiny creatures, called minibeasts.
- Cat knew all about animals.
- Jay was the bird expert.
They flew around the UK in a big green hot air balloon with Skipper the dog and their pilot, Sky. Their mission was to find other Green Balloon Club members and discover the amazing wildlife in different places. The show also had special reporters like Jelly, Nature Chris, and famous birdwatcher Bill Oddie.
Each episode started with the children checking who was present, then doing a special "Green Balloon Club" chant. At the end of their adventure, the balloon would "land," and everyone would sing a song together.
Green Balloon Club Series and Specials
The Green Balloon Club was part of CBeebies' "EcoBeebies" initiative, which encouraged kids to learn about the environment.
Original Series: Green Balloon Club
The main series began with a special launch show called Easy Peasy Eco Beebies on June 13, 2008. After that, 48 episodes were broadcast weekly from June 20, 2008, to May 29, 2009. There was a short break during the Christmas holidays.
Green Balloon Club Goes on Holiday (2009)
In 2009, a special series of 10 episodes was aired.
- In the first five episodes, the Green Team visited the beautiful Isle of Arran.
- For the next five episodes, they became zookeepers at Belfast Zoo for a whole week!
Winter Special (2009)
A standalone Winter Special episode was shown in December 2009. In this episode, the entire cast went on an exciting winter camping adventure.
Green Balloon Club Scrapbook (2010)
In 2010, a spin-off series called Green Balloon Club Scrapbook was created. It had 15 episodes and showed what the Green Team did when they weren't in the hot air balloon. They would check a laptop to see what other club members were up to. In this series, Skipper the Dog even got a voice! There were also two special episodes dedicated to songs.
Songs from the Show
All the music for Green Balloon Club was written by Paul Moessl and sung by the cast. Some of the popular songs included:
- Theme Song
- Let's Go Play Outside
- It's Our World
- Listen
- All Earth's Creatures
- Underwater
- Fun on the Beach
- Minibeast Madness
- Flying
- Whatever's Good at Christmas (a special Christmas song written by Bill Oddie)
- Dig In
- Good to get away (the Arran song)
- At the Zoo (the Belfast song)
- Animal Alphabet
- Waggle Dance
- It's a Dog's Life
- A special version of the Title song for the Winter Special
Meet the Cast
The show featured a talented group of young actors and a real dog!
- Isabella Blake-Thomas played Lily-Rose, the youngest member and the flower expert. She often carried flowers.
- Jake Pratt played Jay, the bird expert. He missed some episodes but returned for the Winter Special.
- Debbie Korley played Sky, the balloon pilot who led the team's adventures. She was sometimes replaced by Chris Howard but returned for the Winter Special.
- Adam Wells played Ant, the bug and minibeast expert.
- Thai Murray-Edwards played Cat, the animal expert.
- Skipper the Dog played herself! She was actually Thai Murray-Edwards' real-life pet.
- Aliex Yuill played Jelly, a special reporter who often appeared with Bill Oddie.
- Chris Howard started as a leader for the Ground Crew and later joined the main cast as Nature Chris in the balloon.
- Bill Oddie played himself, exploring nature in his garden with Jelly.
The child actors were chosen after many auditions. Isabella Blake-Thomas was only 5 years old when she started on the show!
Images for kids
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The official logo for the Green Balloon Club TV show.
