Apple Tree House - Episode Guide

Mali and his family have just moved into Apple Tree House and are hungry for some of Grandma Zainab's magnificent mango pudding, but they can't find any mangoes. Thankfully, the friendly neighbours of Apple Tree House are happy to help and so Mali and his new friend Sam embark on their first adventure together - a mission to find mangoes.

As Mali gets used to living in a new home, he starts to worry about starting at a new school. Mali's not the only one worrying - his dad, Nadeem, is about to start his new job at the zoo and he seems to have similar fears to Mali. Luckily, there are lots of friends on hand to help them both through their first day nerves.

Mali is struggling to think of a picture for school so Sam tells him a story about teapot chores. A cautionary tale about how putting things off until the last minute can often mean creating more work for yourself.

How does the bus know where to go? After a journey home from the city, Grandma Zainab, Sam and Mali start to wonder how the bus driver always knows where to bring them. Together, the children solve the mystery and learn how buses really work.

It's Ramadan and Kobi and Patience need to change their plans to accommodate Mali's family. Determined that the children will have their own dinner party as the adults will be eating too late, Sam finds it hard to accommodate everyone's needs and their individual food requirements. Will she find a way make everyone happy?

Grandma Zainab shows the children of Apple Tree House the wonders of talking books, but when her favourite old cassette tape suddenly breaks, the children decide to re-enact the story in the hope of cheering Grandma Zainab up.

Mali and Grandma Zainab decide to help out at Flo's cafe by baking a cake. Kobi thinks he can make a better cake but ends up with a rock cake instead of a sensational sponge cake. Who can advise Kobi and Sam to put their cake back on track?

The children have lots of fun playing tents, but after witnessing a news story about families who are living in tents because they have lost their homes, Bella decides to take action and organises a clothes collection with the help of her friends, family and school.

After an exciting day at the zoo, Mali discovers that he's lost his new dinosaur toy. Kobi inspires Mali and Grandma Zainab to retrace their steps while Kobi and Sam attempt to work out what's gone wrong with the lift.

Bella wants to learn how to play a musical instrument but can't seem to decide which one. Kobi, Sam and Mali try to help her choose by exploring the many different instruments that exist but there's one particular sound that is inspiring Bella. The only problem is no one knows what the sound is, or where it's coming from.

The children of Apple Tree House learn about taking responsibility as they help to tidy some mess on the estate. When Flo notices a lifeless patch of ground outside her cafe, the children make it their responsibility to fix it and make it more beautiful.

When the residents of Apple Tree House find themselves surprisingly low on milk, they start to wonder where it's all going. After a bit of investigating, all clues point towards Bella, Sam and a furry little stray cat that they've found.

After meeting a supertalented street artist, Bella decides to try her hand at painting. She and the other children arrange an exhibition of their work, but the path to artistic success may by blocked by storm clouds over head.

Sam and Bella are excited about an upcoming bike riding challenge at school, but Mali feels left out because he doesn't know how to ride. Will Mali admit the truth to his friends? And how is he going to participate?

When a mysterious bone is discovered in the community garden at Apple Tree House, the children's imaginations begin to race. Could it really be a dinosaur bone? What would the estate be like full of dinosaurs? Nadeem helps Mali find out more.

With the school closed for polling on election day, the Apple Tree residents decide to hold an election for their very own mayor. Everyone has the right to vote and Sam decides to run for the position of mayor, but will she convince the others to vote for her?

Bella and the other children become transfixed by a beautiful rainbow that forms over the estate. Bella insists on finding out where the rainbow ends and is convinced she's going to find gold. Zainab and Kobi must guide the children beyond the promises of myths and legends.

Kobi begins to notice the residents of Apple Tree House acting strangely and tries to find out what's going on. Little does he know that they have plans for a very musical surprise.

Tired of being young, Mali decides to be an adult from now on, but soon discovers how hard (and less fun) it can be. He comes to appreciate what a wonderful thing it is to be young.

The children are learning about their families, their heritage and their family trees, but Bella is concerned that her family might be really boring compared to Sam and Mali's families. Desperate to learn that she might be related to a princess, Bella's about to discover something amazing that will leave her dad, Ian, very impressed.

When a friend of Mali's visits and shows off his latest toys, Mali finds himself wishing he had more and more to play with. Eventually, Sam, Kobi and Zainab show him how to better appreciate the things he already has.

When the children are asked to dress up as heroes for a day for school, Bella finds herself unsure of who she wants to be. Meanwhile, Sam and Mali's costumes are accidently shrunk in the wash. What are they going to do?

When Bella's favourite toy mysteriously goes missing, Sam decides to play detective and unearth the facts. Can she and Zainab follow the clues and solve the case?

When the school play is suddenly postponed, Sam is unimpressed but Kobi convinces the children to donate some time to helping the local community centre instead by providing food, shelter and good cheer.

Sam seems bored and isn't enjoying her latest reading book. But when Zainab shows off her scrapbook about her life's adventures, Sam is inspired to make a book of her own.

When Sam discovers a scary spider in her room she panics and seeks out her dad to help! But she slowly learns more and more about these eight-legged creatures and how they play a major part in nature and in Ghanaian culture.

As part of a school fundraiser, the children of Apple Tree House take part in a sponsored silence. But as they slowly grow more and more restless, they learn that there are many ways to communicate without words... and they create their own silent movie.

A solar eclipse is on its way. As the children excitedly wait for it to begin, they learn how different cultures celebrate this special event.

No one can escape Bella's singing. She's determined to make herself be heard ahead of the school choir concert, but there's the small matter of this week's spellings that must be learned first. The children learn about night school and that learning isn't just for kids. This brings a surprise as Bella's dad Ian overcomes a childhood fear.

It's no secret that Mali wants to become an astronaut, but when a relative suggests that he will never go to space he becomes a bit sad. However, his friends are about to teach Mali that he can be anything he wants to be.

Sam and Bella are back from their summer holidays. Sam's hoping Mali got all the postcards she sent, but he's nowhere to be seen. Worried that Mali's sad because he had to stay at Apple Tree House all summer, they hunt around for him believing that he'll need cheering up. When they finally track him down they are surprised that Mali is feeling exhausted from his amazing 'home holiday' and has his own postcards of all the cool adventures he's had. Bella and Sam realise a holiday is a time to have fun - wherever you are!

Walking in the local park, Bella and Mali learn about how rings in the trunk show the age of a tree. Bella is then curious about the apple tree on the estate. How old is their apple tree? With the help of their oldest and wisest neighbours, who have wonderful tales to tell, they try to solve the mystery of the old apple tree.

Bella is desperate to have a baby sister, or brother, just like Mali. News that Sam might be getting a foster brother or sister encourages Bella to ask even more questions about families and especially babies. The new arrival at Sam's flat causes a great deal of excitement, but Bella has not been listening to her parents and has made an incorrect assumption.

Sam is upset at all the chores she has to do at home, while David doesn't have to do any. Helping her dad fix a shelf and watering the plants makes Sam late joining Bella and Mali who are busy making dreamcatchers. When Sam's dreamcatcher breaks she blames David, and gradually Sam's feelings about David's arrival start to surface. Many hands make light work and there are plenty of friends around to help Sam understand that life with David will settle into a routine.

When Mali and Bella see a person dressed like a spaceman in the community garden, they start to worry about aliens invading the estate. Grandma Zainab points out that it's actually a bee keeper looking after honey bees. Bella feels sad when Kobi reports that the bee keeper is looking to close down the hive because Mr Murphy from number thirty-nine can't look after it any more. When Mali suggests that the Apple Tree community should look after the bees in the hive, Grandma Zainab is inspired to come up with a very practical solution.

Sam and Bella are very excited about performing for their dance class, but when Bella suggests dressing up and having fancy hairstyles, Sam becomes uncomfortable and stops going to practice. Sam eventually opens up to her mum, Patience, to tell her what the problem is. Sam is upset because she believes she can't do anything with her hair. Patience reassures Sam by chatting about her own hair and her childhood. Sam is convinced to return to practice, and Patience promises to assist in creating a wonderful new hairstyle for her daughter.

David feels left out when Sam and Bella go on a trip with their dance class. Initially Kobi suggests playing with the a jigsaw, but there's a piece missing. Then Kobi asks David to help out with his jobs on the estate. David quickly gets bored and then manages to soak Kobi with the hose pipe. Things aren't going well until Kobi invents a tidying up song. David enjoys it so much that, when Sam arrives back at home, he volunteers to help tidy her room.

Kobi needs to paint a wall on the estate, but he can't decide which colour to use. Mali, Sam and Bella aren't keen on Kobi's options and are very keen for him not to use the grey from the leftover tin. They search the estate to find a colour to inspire Kobi, but in the end they decide to invent their own brand new colour. Unfortunately, attempts to create a new colour result in a horrible muddy brown mess. However, when Mali accidentally makes a messy paint mark in the kitchen, Bella is inspired to propose that they paint a mural.

David enjoys listening to stories of Kobi's childhood. Bella, Mali and Sam are excited to hear about David's own stories, and David is enjoying the attention he is getting from his friends. However, Sam gets annoyed when she learns, from Zainab, that David is telling tall tales that may not be completely true. Sam challenges David, who becomes upset. Thankfully Kobi is on hand to guide David to tell stories that are both exciting and true.

When Mali and Zainab deliver some food to their neighbour, Mrs Richards, she tells Mali all about the routine sounds that help her work out what's going on around the estate. Later, when Sam and Mali discover that Bella has used up all the blank paper for their school project, Mali has an idea. Inspired by Mrs Richards, Mali gets his friends to help him create a picture of the Apple Tree House estate using only sounds.

When Bella is elected class council representative, Sam is a little put out. She has lots of ideas to help make school better and fancied having the role for herself. Bella then ignores all the suggestions from her classmates and consequently upsets Mali too. Zainab, Kobi and David despair when Mali, Sam and Bella end up ignoring each other. They must show the three friends that the only way forward is to talk to each other.

Determined to make a bit of a splash with her cornet solo, Bella's been practising hard for the community concert. However, when she suddenly announces she no longer wants to join in with the performance, Sam is concerned. Eventually, Bella confesses that she's deliberately chosen to play the wrong piece. What can Bella do to persuade Flo to let her participate?

David's thoughts are dominated by his first sports day at the school and, inspired by Olympic heroes, the children think about funny poses to strike as they cross the line. Unfortunately, an accident leaves David with a broken leg and he's forced to miss the event. Mali, Sam and Bella with the help of Eli must work out how to cheer up injured David. Get ready for an Apple Tree House sports day surprise.

Mali is in a rush to make a picnic, and Grandma Zainab urges him to take a little more time. At the library Zainab suggests that Mali check out a book telling the story of the the hare and the tortoise, but Mali thinks the old fable is silly. However, when Mali challenges his gran to a race home, he gets more than he bargained for. Will Mali learn that fast isn't always best?

Bella is excited that her friend's mum is getting married. Bella sets her heart on getting a new dress that will be as beautiful as her friend's. Katie can't promise Bella a new dress from the shops but does offer to help make a smart outfit from an old dress. However, when the plan goes wrong Bella loses interest in the wedding and gets a little bit sad. Mali and Sam try to make their friend happy again.

Sam's not happy that David has lost her frisbee. Zainab and Mali turn their attentions away from playing pirates to help make a map that could find the missing frisbee. However, when a rain shower makes the map all wet Zainab's plan stalls until she gets out her telescope and shows the children that stars and landmarks can help us navigate our environment.

Bella's upset that she's missed out on a place in the arts and crafts after-school club, and she's not happy that she's doing basketball with Sam instead. Believing that she's not sporty and shouldn't bother trying, Bella hides her gym kit and feigns sickness to avoid taking part in basketball. However, Grandma Zainab steps in to help Bella realise she can try her hand at anything if she's prepared to do a little practice.

When David has a problem at school, he gets worried about all the school rules. When Zainab tells him that everyone has to follow rules, even adults and even superheroes, Mali and Bella help him consider the rules that help everyone's life on the estate run smoothly.

Mali is upset that Alex, the star player on his football team, hasn't been showing up for practice. Zainab and Kobi decide to make sure Alex is okay, and they discover that Alex is having to look after her mum who's just been released from hospital. It looks like there isn't much room for fun or football in Alex's life until Mali and Sam come up with a plan and a rota to help Alex and her family out.

Sam is confused: she can't work out what David is up to as he looks around for 'something new'. David certainly seems determined to find something special for his show and tell at school, but it's Zainab who finally discovers that David's determination is about helping out a friend.

Mali's dad, Nadeem, has brought Grandma Zainab tickets to watch the cricket - live! When Mali tells his gran that he doesn't want to go and watch the match because 'cricket's boring', he doesn't realise how much he's upset her. Mali is determined to go to Alex's football party instead. It's not until Mali really listens to his friends and some of the adults that he works out what might be the right thing to do to show his gran how much he cares about her.

David is super-excited at the prospect of writing a poem for the Apple Tree community poetry event. As David tries to write about his trains, he also tries to convince his friend Laila to take part too, but no matter how hard he tries, Laila remains determined not to participate. Eventually David, with Grandma Zainab's help, works out that Laila's problem isn't stage fright but more to do with her difficulties with reading. However, David is able to rely on Mali and their friends to find a solution that allows Laila to participate.

After Grandma Zainab tells Bella all about news and newspapers, Bella works out what she wants to be when she grows up. Determined to make television news, Bella goes out to try to find a story. But finding a proper news story proves to be a little difficult.

Football is cancelled but, worried about what his teammates might think, Mali chooses to help Kobi tidy the shed rather than join Bella and Sam at dance class. However, Kobi hopes that a discovery in the 'Kobi cave' will convince Mali that dance is for everyone.

David's friend Laila is keen to look after Nibbles, the school hamster, during the holidays, but her dad isn't so keen. When David and Sam convince Kobi to let them take care of Nibbles during the school break, Laila is delighted that she will get to spend time with the pet too. But things don't quite go to plan, and Grandma Zainab must help Mali and Laila do some extra special solving to prevent a hamster catastrophe.

Poor Laila's been ill, she's not been out for days and now it's raining.

Zak has been causing mayhem with his pretend 'golf stick'.

David wants to show Mali the book he's written but instead finds Grandma Zainab on her own.

Eli and Bella are desperate to sit in the fancy car Ian is fixing.

Will Patience be upset when she finds out David and Laila got messy on school photo day?

Bella is sad because her new friend Josie is moving away.

When Mali's sister Yasmeen breaks David's castle, Zainab tells Mali about his own antics.

Zak and Laila are thinking about what they could be when they are older. Laila's desires to be a builder creating wonderful buildings are questioned by Zak who worries that only boys can do the job. When Grandma Zainab intervenes, Zak and Laila end up taking a journey around the estate and realise that their preconceptions about boys and girl's jobs are wrong.

Bella and Laila are taking a particular interest in what Mali's mum, Ameera, is up to. Zainab reveals that Ameera is nervous about a job interview and when Sam learns that Flo is recruiting at the café, Bella comes to the ‘obvious' conclusion that Ameera is planning on working at the café. Bella is determined that the Apple Tree kids should help Ameera get that job even though it transpires that Ameera's not that good at making tea.

Laila's concerned that her new friend Annie has missed another playdate. Meanwhile there's trouble as Kobi and Zainab get territorial about who should be doing what in the garden. Laila disputes the fact that Annie's missing her playdates because she's quiet and doesn't speak very good English and this leads to a chain of events that reveals a mystery gardener and a child looking out for their parent.

It's Laila's birthday but her dad's plans to celebrate are in disarray.

Sam finds out that Annie is having trouble sleeping because of bad dreams.

David and Zak keep on arguing about their school project.

Sam launches an investigation to find Laila's dad's lost phone.

Bella and the kids help Grandma Zainab learn the driving theory rules for her test.

Laila's Dad Steve is really busy right now but Laila has a plan to help her dad by sending her favourite toy, Mister Longlegs, to work in Steve's pocket. But when Mister Longlegs doesn't return Laila discovers that her dad left the toy at his friend's house. This is a new friend who Laila has never met. Laila doesn't understand why her dad needs a new friend and she's nervous to meet her.

David's contemplating all the different jobs the adults on the estate do but Sam points out that David's left someone off the list. Of course, it's Grandma Zainab! But David doesn't think Grandma Zainab has a real job. However, when Zainab takes Sam and David on a mission to pick up the community centre keys, they find themselves accompanying Zainab on busy mission helping out all kinds of people on the estate.

It's clear that little Finn is worried about his dad's plans to perform at the community festival. Errol's trying to do lots of acrobatic tricks but none of them seem to work. Taking a leaf from her Great Uncle Owa, Sam advises Finn and Errol to focus on one trick at a time. Even with Sam's advice Errol doesn't look like he'll be ready in time until Sam comes up with a genius plan inspired by a book about the circus.

When Sam, David and Kobi find a lost piano, they aim to reunite it with the owner.

Bella's not happy that Finn hasn't shown up for the playdate. Bella had planned a whole new game requiring her friends to play in pairs, but Finn's no-show leaves an odd one out. Later Finn reveals that he didn't show up because of his fear of Bella's cat. Bella, Mali and Annie all help Finn understand the relationship between humans and animals, but can they convince Finn that there's nothing to be scared of?

David's worried about who will look after the estate whilst Kobi is away. Mali and Zainab are sure Kobi has arranged a replacement and sure enough a temporary caretaker arrives on the scene. Everyone likes the new caretaker, Ricki, and David then worries that Kobi's replacement might take over for good, leaving Kobi out of a job.

There's been a big falling out over sweet wrappers in the washing machine and Kobi and Sam aren't on good terms. Bella's intent on making the peace and getting Kobi and Sam talking again but things don't go to plan - she learns that family disputes can sometimes drag on.

When a present for David arrives all the way from China, Laila is fascinated by the notion of Chinese New Year being on a completely different day to the New Year they celebrated just after Christmas. Laila starts thinking that she could create her own celebration and is determined to choose a day and create her own festival celebration, but not all her friends are as enthusiastic about ‘Laila's Day'.

Bella is spending a lot of time with her ‘other' friends and it seems that cornet lessons, the community concert and hanging out with Laila seem a little uncool. Laila is unhappy about losing a friend but Sam and Eli are convinced Bella won't miss the opportunity to dress up and go on the storytelling trip. However, Bella is convinced that her other friends are ‘totes' amazing and looks on course to let her friends and the community band down.

Life at Apple Tree House continues. Mali, Sam and Bella are growing up..