Do you remember the stories that you read as a child? Moral stories can needn’t be serious, but they can be funny at the same time help your child learn something. We have compiled a list of 07 short moral stories that are inspirational, from India, and from around the world. <h3>1. The Boy Who Cried, Wolf</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_boy_who_cried%2C_wolf.webp_image_1638188646554.webp" width="359">There was a young boy whose father, a farmer, had asked him to take their herd of sheep grazing every day.One day, the boy was extremely bored as he watched over the sheep and so he cried: “Wolf! Wolf!”On hearing his cries, the villagers rushed to help him chase the wolf away and save the sheep.When they saw the grinning boy and realised he had cried wolf for his amusement, they scolded him and told him to not cry wolf!The next day, the boy cried out that the wolf was there. The villagers came, scolded him again, and left.Later that same day, a wolf came and terrorized the sheep.The boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf! Please help me.”But, the villagers assumed that he was pulling a silly prank again and did not come to his rescue. The sheep ran away and the boy cried.Moral of the story: Don’t lie or engage in foolish pranks, for no one will believe a liar even when he is telling the truth! <h3>2. The Golden Touch Of Midas</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_golden_touch_of_midas.jpg_image_1638188804006.jpg" width="365">A long time ago, there lived a king in Greece named Midas.He was extremely wealthy and had all the gold he could ever need. He also had a daughter whom he loved very much.One day, Midas saw a Satyr (an angel) who was stuck and was in trouble. Midas helped the Satyr and asked for his wish to be granted in return.The Satyr agreed and Midas wished for everything he touched to be turned to gold. His wish was granted.Extremely excited, Midas went home to his wife and daughter touching pebbles, rocks, and plants on the way, which turned into gold.As his daughter hugged him, she turned into a golden statue.Having learnt his lesson, Midas begged the Satyr to reverse the spell who granted that everything would go back to their original state.Moral of the story: Stay content and grateful for what you have. Greed will not get you anywhere. <h3>3. The Foolish Thief</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_foolish_thief.jpg_image_1638188856227.jpg" width="362">Once, a wealthy merchant came to King Akbar’s court to seek help from Birbal. He suspected that one of his servants had robbed him.On hearing this, Birbal thought of a clever plan and summoned the merchant’s servants.He gave each servant a stick of the same length. He told them that the thief’s stick would grow two inches by the next day.The next day, Birbal summoned the servants again. He noticed that a servant’s stick was two inches shorter than the others.He knew who the thief was.The foolish thief had cut the stick shorter by two inches as he thought it would grow two inches. Thus, proving his guilt.Moral of the story: Truth and justice will always prevail. <h3>4. Two Frogs With The Same Problem</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/two_frogs_with_the_same_problem.png_image_1638188962564.png" width="346">Once, a group of frogs was roaming around the forest in search of water. Suddenly, two frogs in the group accidentally fell into a deep pit.The other frogs worried about their friends in the pit.Seeing how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that there was no way they could escape the deep pit and that there was no point in trying.They continued to constantly discourage them as the two frogs tried to jump out of the pit. But keep falling back.Soon, one of the two frogs started to believe the other frogs — that they’ll never be able to escape the pit and eventually died after giving up.The other frog keeps trying and eventually jumps so high that he escapes the pit. The other frogs were shocked at this and wondered how he did it.The difference was that the second frog was deaf and couldn’t hear the discouragement of the group. He simply thought they were cheering him on!Moral of the story: People’s opinion of you will affect you, only if you believe it to be so. It’s better to believe in yourself. <h3>5. The Milkmaid and Her Pail</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_milkmaid_and_her_pail.jpg_image_1638189037353.jpg" width="348">There was once a milkmaid named Patty.She milked her cow and carried the two pails of milk she fetched on a stick and set out to sell the milk at the market.As she was walking to the market, she began to daydream about what she would do with the money she fo for the milk.She thought of buying a hen and selling its eggs and she planned on becoming wealthy.She dreamt of buying a cake, a basket of strawberries, a fancy dress, and even a new house with the money she would make selling the eggs and the milk!In her excitement, she forgot about the pails she was carrying and began to skip.Suddenly, she realised that the milk was spilling down and when she checked her pails, they were empty.Moral of the story: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! It is important to focus on the process of achieving success and not just success alone. <h3>6. The Elephant Circus</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/elepahnt_circus.jpg_image_1638189224771.jpg" width="361">Once upon a time in a circus, five elephants performed circus tricks. They were kept tied up with weak rope that they could’ve easily escaped, but did not.One day, a man visiting the circus asked the ringmaster: “Why haven’t these elephants broken the rope and run away?”The ringmaster replied: “From when they were young, the elephants were made to believe that they were not strong enough to break the ropes and escape.”It was because of this belief that they did not even try to break the ropes now.Moral of the story: Don’t give in to the limitations of society. Believe that you can achieve everything you want to!<h3> </h3>7. The Elephants And The Mice<img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/1_xvfat_v8xumqnkx7-3jcka.png_image_1638189285226.png" width="350">In an earthquake-hit village abandoned by humans, a colony of mice lived. Near the village was a lake, which was used by a herd of elephants.The elephants would have to cross the village to go to the lake. Thus, one day, as they walked through, they trampled a lot of mice.The leader of the mice met with the elephants and requested them to take a different route to the lake. He promised them that their favour would be returned in the time of their need.The elephants laughed. How could such small mice help these large elephants in any way? But then, they agreed to take a different route.Not so long after, the mice heard that hunters had caught the herd of elephants and were tied in nets.Immediately, they rush to rescue the elephants. They gnawed through the nets and ropes with their sharp teeth.The leader of the elephants repeatedly thanked the mice for their help!Moral of the story: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Make sure you help your friends out whenever they need it. They should always be able to count on you. That’s all folks!We hope children like these short yet interesting stories with morals that we have read growing up!There are more and more stories with morals on <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/s/moral-stories" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bee Stories</a>.

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

07 Must Read Short Moral Stories For Children

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

Pallavi Hota

There was a panda who suddenly forgot his name and decided to go out and ask everybody around him if they knew his name.He asked the old lady, Oh dear grandma, do you know my name? She said, No dear, go and ask my son. He went to her son and asked, Son of grandma, do you know my name? He replied. No, ask my axe. He asked the axe, Grandma’s sons axe, do you know my name? It said, No, go and ask the tree I just cut. He asked the tree, Tree that the axe cut, do you know my name? It replied, No, ask the birds that sit on me. He asked the birds, Dear birds on the tree, do you know my name? The birds said, No, go and ask the river we drink water from. He asked the river, Dear river the birds drink water from, do you know my name? The river replied, No, go and ask the fish that swims in me. He asked the fish, Oh fish swimming in the river, do you know my name? It replied, No, go and ask the boy who tries to catch me. He asked the boy, Oh boy trying to catch the fish, do you know my name? He replied, No, go and ask the horse that I ride. He asked the horse, Dear horse that the boy rides, do you know my name? It said, No, ask the baby horse in my womb. He asked the baby horse, Dear baby horse in the horses womb, do you know my name. It fumbled and said, Pa-pa-pa It suddenly remembered and screamed in joy, Hurray! My name is panda.

This is a story of panda, horse, and river.

The Panda Who Forgot His Name

Shina Utavani

Once in a dense forest, there lived a group of crows on a tree. The crows were self-obsessed and did not like outsiders. They were all busy on their own and did not like anyone else. They were very rude to other birds and animals.A little bird, while flying in the forest, lost her way. It started getting dark so she decided to stop over a tree. She saw a tree where the group of crows lived. She decided to rest there. But they all were very arrogant. One of the crows shouted, “Go away from here.” The little bird requested them to allow her to stay for a while as it might rain but the crows did not listen to her. The bird pleaded them but they did not agree. Finally, the little bird decided to fly to another tree.The bird went to another tree and there she found a nice hole to rest in comfortably. After some time, it started raining. It rained heavily with hailstones falling. The crows sitting on that tree faced difficulties. Many of them were hurt and some of them even died. On the other hand, the little bird took rest for the whole night.The next day, the little bird came out and decided to fly towards her home. One of the crows saw her and asked, “How come you are not hurt?”. The little bird said, “God helps humble creatures and lets arrogant ones like you suffer.” The crows realized that they were punished for their selfish nature. Moral:One should never be arrogant because God punishes those who are arrogant.

This is a story of crow, forest and tree.Moral(s) of the story: arrogance and selfishness`

The vain Crows

A group of flowers used to live together in a garden. The flowers included Sunflower, Cactus, Daisy, and Cosmos. All the flowers were very small and they were growing gradually.After some time, the flowers bloomed beautifully one day and everyone had a flower on them except cactus. The cactus did not have any flower on it. All the flowers started teasing him. They all started making fun of cactus. The sunflower said, “Hey Look, Cactus looks so ugly. She does not have a flower on her.” Everyone started laughing. “You do not come close to me. You make me look ugly,” said the cosmos. Tulip said, “I am grateful that I am not a cactus.” The daisy said, “You look so ugly, cactus.”The cactus felt very bad and sad. All the plants were very rude to her. All these comments made cactus very sad. She wanted to look like them. She started applying different things to look like them.After a few months, the summer season started approaching and the garden began to dry up. The hot weather had dried up the garden. There was no water and all the flowers except cactus were suffering due to the hot summer. Cactus saw all the flowers suffering due to the hot weather, she asked them, “Are you guys okay?” They all said they were dying out of thirst and that they will die because of the hot weather.Sunflower said, “Cactus, the hot weather is affecting all of us but not you. How come you are not affected by the water? Do you not feel thirsty?” The cactus said, “I have long roots that spread out just under the groundwater. And without leaves, my body releases very less water in the atmosphere so I can store a lot of water.”Seeing the flowers dying because of thirst, the cactus decided to help them. She said, “I can help you all, I have some water.” Sunflower felt very bad and said, “I am sorry Cactus. We treated you so bad and still, you are willing to help us.” The cactus replied, “It is okay. I am doing what I know is right.” Everyone apologized to cactus and felt guilty. Cactus helped everyone and saved their lives. Everyone thanked cactus for saving their lives.They all stopped teasing her after that day. A fairy was watching all this from above and was impressed by the good deed of cactus. She decided to reward Cactus for its kindness. She came and moved her magic wand and the cactus got a beautiful flower. The cactus was very happy to finally have a flower just like the other plants. After that, all the flowers lived happily together in the garden. Moral:Do not make fun of others. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

This is a story of cactus, cosmos, daisy, plant, summer, sunflower, tulip and water.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

Kind Cactus

Once upon a time in a jungle, there lived a dog and a rabbit. One day, they were sitting and talking about a new tiger that had come to live in the jungle. The dog told the rabbit, “The new tiger is very strong and smart. He catches every animal and eats them.” After listening to this, the rabbit was very scared.The rabbit was very scared of the new tiger. He did not know enough tricks to save himself from the tiger. He said to the dog, “I know only one trick to save myself from the deadly animal. I have to learn more tricks.” The dog replied, “I know many tricks to save myself from the tiger. I can run fast, I can hide, I can dig and bury myself. I know many of it, I can easily save myself.”The rabbit was amazed by the dog’s tricks, he requested to teach a few of the tricks to him. The dog replied that the tricks were for the intelligent animals and he was not an intelligent animal. So, he will not teach the trick to him. The rabbit felt bad when the dog denied to teach him the tricks.Suddenly, the rabbit saw the tiger was coming towards them. The tiger was slowly approaching them. The rabbit said, “Dog, see the tiger is coming. I am going to use my trick and climb the tree. You use your trick and save yourself. We will meet afterward.”The rabbit quickly climbed the tree. When the tiger came near the dog, the dog started running here and there. Then he hid under the portion but the tiger found him. The tiger saw the dog and immediately attacked him.If the dog would have shared his knowledge with the rabbit, then the rabbit would have somehow saved him. The rabbit had saved his life by climbing the tree but the dog did not know that trick. So, if they had shared each other’s thoughts, they would have stayed together for their lives. Moral:When you give, you receive more of it.

This is a story of dog, forest, rabbit and tiger.Moral(s) of the story: sharing

The Dog And The Rabbit

Nishita Sanghvi

Once upon a time in a dense forest stood a pineapple tree and an oak tree, side by side. Though they were neighbours, they never shared a great bond. The pineapple tree always made fun of the oak tree and displayed a lot of attitude.The pineapple tree would keep saying that “I am so juicy and delicious”. With me around, nobody would want you. This went on for a long time. There would be many trespassers who would just give a stare at the oak tree but when they saw the pineapple tree, they would try to grab one or two pineapples from the tree for a taste. In case of the oak tree, there is no edible use, since oaks contain acid they cannot be consumed. The trunk of the tree is used to make wood. The oak tree was well aware of this fact and felt miserable, but could do nothing about it except feeling bad.Soon a family came to live near the forest- a husband-wife and their son. The son had faced a weird injury wherein he kept bleeding little little everyday. The doctor had suggested that the only cure was to find the bark of an oak tree and apply it for several days until the bleeding stopped completely. Hence this couple had come around looking for an oak tree and here they were happy to find one. Now it was the oak tree’s turn to make the pineapple tree feel low. However, the oak tree did not because he knew how it felt to be ignored. The pineapple tree finally realised how it felt to be dejected. Moral:Everyone has abilities and good qualities; no one should be made to feel worthless.

This is a story of forest, pineapple tree and oak tree.

The proud pineapple tree

There was a carnivorous plant named Flora. As she was a carnivorous plant, she used to eat meat. She had a friend named Porky. Her friend was a butcher and she used to live in the supermarket, next to the butcher’s counter. Porky treated Flora with great attention and affection, and always had some piece of meat to give her at the end of each day.One day, Flora did not get her share of the meat. It was unusual as Porky never forgot to give meat to Flora. The next day also Flora did not get her part of the meat. She was worried and decided to follow Porky to know the reason.After spying on Porky, she found out that he was not giving her meat because he was putting big slabs of meat in a big yellow box. Flora asked Porky if she could have a little of the food kept in the yellow box. The Porky replied saying she should not do that and added, “Don’t even think about it, Flora! Don’t even touch the meat in the yellow box.”Flora felt very bad about it. She was disappointed and hungry as well. She could not stop wondering why Porky was keeping the delicious meat in the box. She was very angry, and her mind was filled with negative thoughts. On that very night, when the shop was empty, she went to the box. She opened the box and ate the meat kept in the box until her belly ached.The next morning, Porky arrived and saw the yellow box empty. He asked Flora several times whether she had taken the meat, but she denied. But after seeing Porky’s worry, Flora decided to confess.After Flora’s confession, Porky was very angry and said, “What have you done Flora?” “I told you not to touch it! All that meat was poisoned! That’s why I did not give you anything for days. They sent us a spoiled delivery.” Further, without any delay, they took Flora to the hospital. She managed to survive. She was feeling great pain in her roots and her leaves were changing colours. Flora felt terrible. She felt very bad for going against Porky. At last, she realized her mistake and promised to follow rules made by those who love her. Moral:Always listen to those who love you. All they say is for your betterment.

This is a story of butcher, meat and plant.Moral(s) of the story: trust

The Carnivorous Plant and the Butcher

Ravina Sewani

Once upon a time lived on a cloud that was grown up over a very beautiful country. One day, she saw another much bigger cloud and she felt so much envy, than the cloud decided that in order to get bigger and grow more, her water would never abandon her, and will never start raining again.Indeed, the cloud grew up, while his country was getting dried. First, rivers dried up, then people, animals, plants, and finally, the whole country became a desert. The cloud did not care much, but she also did not realize that by being over a desert there was no place where she could obtain new water to keep growing. So slowly, the cloud began to lose size, and was unable to do anything to stop it .The cloud then realized her mistake, and that her greed and selfishness were the cause of her vanishing; but just before evaporating, when she was just a sigh of cotton, there started blowing a gentle breeze. The cloud was so small and weighed so little that the wind took her far away, to a faraway beautiful country, where once again she recovered her original size.Having learned this lesson, our cloud remained small and modest, but she became so generous when raining, that her new country became even greener, giving away to all people there the most beautiful rainbow in the world.Moral: Greed and selfishness bring with them serious problems.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of cloud, rain and rainbow.Moral(s) of the story: greediness and selfishness

The greedy cloud

Five hundred years ago, there lived a girl namedNandiniwith her parents and two old brothers in Raigadh. She belonged to a poor family. Sun King was the ruler of the village. Once, they came to know that the health of the king’s son which was not well since birth, had worsened. The Sun King was worried about his son’s life. The court magician said, “The only hope for your son’s life is the water from the Magic Lake. The magic lake was situated at the end of the earth. In the end, the sky dips so low that it touches the lake’s water and it has the magical healing power.”The Sun King announced that whoever could bring him the water from the magic lake would be rewarded. For the Nandini’s two older brothers, it was the opportunity to save the king’s son. They begged their parents to let them go to find the magic lake. Their father said that the end of the earth is very far, and it would take a lot of time to reach there. Her mother said that there would be a lot of danger in the way to reach there. The only thing the brothers said was, “But our prince will die without the water from the Magic Lake. We must try.” Eventually, the parents agreed and Nandini’s brothers embarked on the journey. They travelled for months, trekking through various mountain ranges. After crossing each mountain range, they thought they would reach the magic lake after that. But that did not happen.The brothers were exhausted and tired. One of them said, “We are not going to find the Magic Lake.” "Look, the harvest is coming, and our parents need us back at the farm. Let's take some water from this mountain lake back to the prince. Who knows? We're far from Raigadh. Maybe the water will help cure him." They were confused but filled the jar full of the mountain lake water, sealed it, and presented it to the Sun King at the castle. But when the court magician poured their water into his flask, it sizzled and evaporated in a flash. The court magician frowned, "My magic flask holds only water from the Magic Lake.” He said, "This water is fake. These men are imposters!". The Sun King was angry and said, "How dare you try to trick the royal family! Throw them in prison!" LittleNandini felt very bad about the news that her brothers were put in jail but she was happy that at least they were alive.Nandini decided to go on the journey to search for the magic water. Her parents did not allow her to go. But she requested her parents by saying that it was the only way to save her brother’s life. Her parents at last agreed and her mother gave her a bag of toasted nuts and a Lamb (her pet)to keep her company. She went on the journey to find the magic water. She did not want to risk her pet’s life so she asked him to go back home after one day.She was sitting under a tree. She took out some nuts from her bag to eat. On the tree, there were various birds. She offered some of the nuts to them as well. The birds were happy for her kindness and they decided to help her find the magic lake. They gave the girl, a feather from each of their wings and told her that those feathers held magic powers. They also told her to hold all of them together like a fan and that would take her where she wished to go. Nandini was also advised that the lake was guarded by three terrible beats, but that she should not worry because the feathers would help her.Nandini then reached a beautiful lake within a few seconds with the help of the feathers. When she reached there, she realised that she left her bag behind including the flask to fill the water. She kept the feather fan on her lips and wished for the flask. Suddenly there appeared the flask. Before the girl could fill the flask with the water, she heard a menacing sound behind her. She looked around and saw a giant crab who told her to leave the water alone. Nandini took the magic fan up to her lips and the crab fell asleep. As she went ahead, she saw a giant snake coming towards her. She got very scared. She quickly took the magic fan and the snake disappeared. Again, she heard the tail of a giant alligator before she could fill the water. Nandini again used the magic fan and the alligator fell asleep.Now that she had faced the three terrible beasts, Nandini was free to fill the water. She filled the water and took the magic fan and wished to be in the palace. She arrived in the room that was occupied by the king, queen, and prince. She put a few drops of water onto the prince’s lips. He immediately began to recover.The king was very happy and asked Nandinito wish for anything she wanted. She asked for three things. First, she asked for her brother’s release. The king released them immediately. Second, she wanted her parents to be no longer poor. The king agreed to give them land, house, and enough money. Thirdly, she asked that the magic fan to be returned to the birds. As soon as she made this request, the fan lifted itself and went out of the castle.Nandini asked nothing for herself. The king requested her to stay with them. She kindly denied as she wanted to go back home to her parents. Then, she lived peacefully and comfortably with her parents. Moral:Always be courageous and never give up. Family should always be our priority.

This is a story of brother, king, lake and magic.Moral(s) of the story: courage

The Magic Lake 

Once, Claudia, the cloud was out with her friend Sun. She was very happy. It was a beautiful day and the birds were singing their hearts out. Claudia was very happy that she got a chance to spend time with her friend. She enjoyed Sun’s company.They both were having a good time. Suddenly, the wind started blowing. Due to the wind, Claudia started moving. The wind was pushing her from side to side. Claudia shouted at the wind, “Why are you blowing so strongly? You are pushing me away.” The wind replied, “I have to blow intensely.”The Claudia shouted, “But why would you do that? I do not want to move from here, I am having a good time.” The wind answered, “Because I have to help the seed of the plants to travel from one place to another so that new plants can grow. Because of me, the windmills can move, and humans can get their electricity.”The cloud understood that to help others you need to sacrifice. Claudia understood that even if she could not stay still for a while, it was to help other people. Moral:Sometimes you need to sacrifice to help others.

This is a story of cloud and wind.Moral(s) of the story: sacrifice

general element stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.

The Panda Who Forgot His Name

The vain Crows

Kind Cactus

The Dog And The Rabbit

The proud pineapple tree

The Carnivorous Plant and the Butcher

The greedy cloud

The Magic Lake

The cloud and the wind

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