EPISODE 11 · NOCTURNAL ANIMALS · On YouTube
Halloween cartoon for toddlers: who flies at night?
4 min 36 · Ages 3–6 · In English
The little story
A just-pretend witch, and real animals of the night.
Tonight, Girafoufou dresses up as a witch, just pretend, and Little Reindeer as a bat. With the magic words “Abracadabra… magic!”, they go and see who really flies at night: bats that sleep upside down and fly with their hands, a hedgehog making its bed under the leaves, and the barn owl from the old bell tower, which flies without a sound, thanks to its feathers. Four words to say with the two friends: lantern, nocturnal, silent, feather.
For parents
Why can’t we hear an owl fly? Tiny serrations, like the teeth of a comb, run along the leading edge of its flight feathers, the trailing edge has a super-soft fringe, and the feathers have a velvet-soft downy coating: together they muffle the sound of the wings. The owl in the episode is a barn owl, the owl of old barns and bell towers. A bat flies with its hands: its wings are a thin skin stretched between very long finger bones; it sleeps in the daytime, hanging upside down, and comes out at night. Hedgehogs build a nest of dry leaves and sleep through the winter. During the three-second pauses, let your child answer: it is their turn to say the magic words and the new words.
Things to discover together
- Say the magic words, then four new words: nocturnal, lantern, silent, feather.
- The bat sleeps upside down in the daytime, and flies with its hands.
- The hedgehog hides under the leaves and makes its bed for the winter.
- The owl flies without a sound, thanks to its feathers: listen… and hear nothing at all.
From 1 October to 2 November, Girafoufou’s village turns to Halloween: smiling pumpkins along the path, a little paper bat gliding by, and Girafoufou wearing her pumpkin hat. In Discoveries, the walk “The night” takes your child to meet the hedgehog, the owl, the bat and the firefly.
Enter the village ↗The episode, step by step
- 0:00Abracadabra: the lantern lights up
- 0:22Happy Halloween! A just-pretend witch
- 0:37The magic words: your turn!
- 0:53Who sleeps upside down?
- 1:20What does a bat fly with?
- 1:37Little Reindeer upside down!
- 1:52Who hides under the leaves?
- 2:17My lantern, then the old bell tower
- 2:43Can you hear the owl fly?
- 3:08How does an owl fly without a sound?
- 3:29Back home: sweets, then teeth!
- 3:42Do you remember?
- 4:04Girafoufou says, and the mission
Read the video transcript
Abracadabra… magic! Ooh! Something flew up there… without a sound! Happy Halloween, everyone! Tonight, we’re dressing up. I’m a witch… just pretend! And I’m a bat! Flap, flap! Witches are only in stories. But tonight, let’s see who flies at night… for real! To see who flies at night, we need the magic words: Abracadabra… magic! Your turn! Abracadabra… magic! The bat! In the daytime, it sleeps upside down in a loft. At night, it flies about and eats lots and lots of mosquitoes.
They sleep upside down! All day long! It sleeps in the day, and wakes up at night. It’s… nocturnal! Nocturnal means awake at night. Nocturnal! Say it: nocturnal! And do you know what it flies with? Its… hands! Its wings are very thin skin, between its very long fingers. Spread your fingers wide, like a bat! It flies with its hands!
I want to sleep upside down too! The magic words, please! Abracadabra… magic! The hedgehog! It lives in the garden, hidden under a pile of leaves, and it comes out at night. Oops! Sorry, hedgehog! It was making its bed for the winter! Soon, it will sleep there all winter long… until spring! Sleep well, hedgehog… see you in spring! To see in the dark, I’ve got my… lantern! A lantern is a little lamp you carry with you, to light up the night.
A lantern! Say it: lantern! And up there, in the old bell tower… who’s that? The barn owl! It lives in the old bell tower. I can fly too! Flap, flap, flap! You’re making lots of noise! Shh… Listen to the owl. Can you hear it fly? No! We can’t hear a thing. The owl is… silent! Silent means no sound at all… shh!
Silent… Say it very softly: silent… Its secret? Its… feathers! Feathers are a bird’s soft coat, as light as air. A feather! Say it: feather! The edges of its feathers are super soft, like a little fringe. Thanks to its feathers, the owl flies without a sound! My turn! Abracadabra… magic!
Happy Halloween! A sweet for our little bat… and then, we brush our teeth! Promise! Do you remember? Tell me the words! When the owl flies, we can’t hear it at all. It’s…? Silent! And an animal that’s awake at night is…? Nocturnal! Well done!
Girafoufou says: fly like the owl… without a sound! Brilliant! Now go and find Mummy or Daddy, and tell them: the owl flies without a sound, thanks to its… feathers! And the bat flies with its hands! Happy Halloween, everyone! Bye-bye! Happy Halloween!
For another little screening
