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.

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time a king had a son named Prince Wicked. He was very cruel and used to hurt everyone by his actions and words. Nobody in the kingdom liked him and feared the day he would take over the reins of the kingdom. One day, when the prince was swimming in the river, suddenly a fierce storm rose in the sky. It started raining heavily and a flash flood came in the river. A big wave came out of nowhere and took away the prince with it. The servants saw the prince getting washed away into the river, but deliberately did not do anything to save him. They thought that it was better for all of them to let such a diabolical prince die. They went to the king and told him that the prince went missing somewhere in the storm.In the meanwhile, Prince Wicked was trying to save himself from drowning in the flood water. Luckily, he came across a wooden log and climbed upon it. The prince, along with the log started floating farther down the river.Because of the flood, some water had also rushed into the homes of a rat and a snake that lived near the river bank. In order to save their lives, the rat and the snake caught hold of the wooden log on which the prince was lying. The storm had also destroyed a tree on which a young parrot lived. The young parrot was thrown into the river with a strong gust of wind. He was unable to fly because of his tender and wet wings. When he saw the wooden log, he also perched himself on it. Now there were four of them on the log, floating down the river together.Just around the bend in the river, a certain poor man lived. He heard the cries of the prince and jumped into the river to save him. With much effort, he was able to drag the wooden log to the shore. Now the prince and the animals were safe.He built a fire to keep them warm and also gave them some hot milk to drink. The poor man, however, first attended to the animals as they were weaker and needed instant care. This made the young prince angry, and he said to himself, “Instead of taking care of a prince, this man is looking after these worthless animals.” This made the prince turn against the poor man.A few days later, the storm subsided and everybody decided to go back to their homes. First of all, the snake bid farewell to the poor man saying, “Father, you have been very kind to me! I know a place where there is abundant gold hidden. Whenever you need it just come to my home and call out, “Snake!” and I will show you that place.”The rat also knew about some hidden money. He bid adieu to the poor man and said, “If ever you want money, come to my home and call out, “Rat!” and I will take you to a place where a lot of money is hidden.”Then the parrot came, saying, “Father, I do not know of any treasure. But if you ever wish to eat the best quality of rice, then come to the place where I live and call me out. Together with my family, I will gather the choicest of rice grains from the fields for you.”Now it was the prince’s turn to take the poor man’s leave. He was not at all grateful to the poor man for saving his life but he had heard all the animals conveying their words of gratitude, so he also pretended to be as thankful and said, “Come to me when I become the king, and I will give you great riches.” So saying, he returned to his kingdom.Sometime after this incident, the poor man decided to visit all those whom he had saved and to find out whether they were still true to their words or not. First of all, he went to the snake, and standing near his hole, called out, “Snake!” At once the snake came out and said, “Father, I am so happy to see you. You may take all the gold that is buried here.” The poor man was happy to know that the snake was willing to keep his promise. He said, “When I need it, I will come and collect it.”Then, the poor man went to meet the rat. The rat was also very happy to see the poor man and wanted to take him to the place where the money was hidden. The poor man said, “When I need the money, I will come back to you.”Going next to the parrot, he called out, “Parrot!” The bird flew down from its nest as soon as he heard the call. He welcomed the poor man and asked if he wanted the fresh rice grains from the fields. The poor man thanked the parrot and promised to avail the parrot’s offer some other time.Lastly, the poor man went to visit the price, who had now become the king. When the king saw the poor man, he was filled with hatred. Instead of rewarding him, the king thought of punishing the poor man for insulting him. So, the king ordered his men to arrest him and march him up on the streets. He instructed them to beat the poor man at every corner of the street and then finally chop off his head.The king’s soldiers reluctantly carried out his orders. While they were marching him on the street, the poor man cried over and over again, “It is better to save poor, weak animals than to save a prince.”The poor man told the story of their king’s ungrateful act to each and every person on the street. The crowd was filled with rage to hear about their king’s atrocity and thanklessness. They decided that he did not deserve to be their king anymore and with the help of his own soldiers, killed him. The crowd decided to choose the poor man as their king and the poor man ruled them with compassion and wisdom.He also invited his friends, the snake, the rat and the parrot to live with him. The animals kindly consented and also brought the gifts that they had promised him. The king got a tube of gold made for the snake to live in, a glass box for the rat and a cage of gold for the parrot. All the animals lived happily ever after with the king. Moral:Acts of cruelty are always paid back tenfold.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of parrot, rat and snake.Moral(s) of the story: gratitude

Prince wicked and the grateful animals

Book Author

Vallabhbhai was a brave and brilliant student. He had leadership skills since his school days. There was one strict teacher in his school who used to use stick to punish the students. One day he fined a student. That student could not pay the amount so the teacher did not allow him to attend the class. Vallabhbhai thought this as a harsh injustice so he asked all the students to go on a strike. He arranged for students to sit in a nearby place. The strike continued for three days. Then the principal had to settle the matter by asking that teacher to be polite with the students.One teacher had a shop of stationary items so he was insisting the students to purchase stationary items from his shop. Vallabhbhai thought this as a wrong practice by a school teacher so he asked the students to boycott that teacher. He used to travel everyday along with his friends for school at N K High school and other people used to go Petlad for work. On the way there was a big stone that was hurting to the people they were going through that way. He noticed that people get hurt but no one is thinking or making any effort to move that stone away from the walkway. He decided to move that stone away from the way. Other friends and people kept going while he stopped there and moved the stone by himself. He had idea of helping people of this country at his early schooling days. Once, Child Vallabhbhai had a boil in the armpit. He went to the village barber and asked him to remove the boil with a hot iron. The barber was hesitated to put the hot iron rod on Vallabhbhai’s boil. Then he himself took the iron from the barber and without fear put on the boil. Thus he was fearless and brave since his childhood. Sardar Patel with Children / YouthWhen Sardar Patel was India’s Deputy Prime Minister, his grandson Bipinbhai visited New Delhi with some friends. They had come by night train. When they were taking breakfast with Sardar, Sardar asked them the reason to come to Delhi. His grandson Bipinbhai told that they have come to enjoy the vacation. Sardar asked them to move around in the city only for a day and then return back in the night train! He did not want anybody taking care of these boys and then expecting from Sardar in return. Once, Sardar went to a college to address the students. Some students insisted to stand only at certain place. Sardar mentioned in his speech, “I have heard of stubbornness of kings, stubbornness of children but for the first time I saw stubbornness of students!” This way he clearly taught a lesson to the students without scolding them. Once, some students came to invite Sardar for a lecture. He clearly told them that they should be ready to listen bitter truth from him and he will never speak sweet words of praise to appease the students. Thus he was not of the opinion to appease students to guide them for a true path but he believed to use hard words whenever required!

Vallabhbhai was a brave and brilliant student. He had leadership skills since his school days. There was one strict teacher in his school who used to use stick to punish the students.

Sardar Vallabhbhai patel’s Childhood

Harry is a very sweet toddler who loves sweet foods a lot. He is often caught grabbing chocolates from the fridge, stealing candies from the jars within his reach or convincing his elder brother and grandparents to allow him one more sweet.He really does have a sweet tooth. One day he gets a massive pain in his teeth and his tummy. His mother gets him medicines for his tummy before they go to the dentist.The dentist checks his teeth and explains to Harry why he should not eat too many sweets.The dentist says, “Harry. You need to keep your teeth healthy. Here take Ms. Toothbrush with you.”“Ms. Toothbrush?” Harry asks.“Yes, Ms. Toothbrush. You have to brush your teeth with it after every meal. This will help remove germs from your teeth and keep them healthy. Ms. Toothbrush will protect your teeth.”Ms. Toothbrush was a new toothbrush with zig-zagged edges. She was blue in colour which was Harry’s favourite colour. She promised to help Harry to keep his teeth clean.From that day on, Harry brushed his teeth with Ms. Toothbrush after every meal and kept his teeth healthy.

This is a story of tooth and toothbrush.Moral(s) of the story: health and hygiene

Ms. Toothbrush

Ravina Sewani

A long time ago, the birds of a forest called a meeting to elect a new king for themselves. They were dissatisfied with their present king, Garuda, who spent most of his time enjoying in heaven rather than fulfilling his duties as the king of the birds. So, the birds decided that they would elect some other bird as their king. After many arguments and heated discussions, the birds finally came to the decision that they would crown the owl as their new king. They started making preparations for the coronation of the newly-elected king of the birds. Just then, a crow flew in and made an objection to the birds’ selection saying, “You have chosen the owl as the king? What were you thinking? Why, such an ugly bird! He also goes blind during the day! And what’s more, owls are birds of prey. He might just kill one of you and have you for his meal rather than protecting you as his subject. What kind of a king would such a bird make? A peacock or a swan would do much better.”The birds thought that the crow’s arguments were based on logic. This made them reconsider their decision. They decided to hold another meeting on a later date for the election of the king. The coronation ceremony was postponed.The owl who was still sitting, ready to be crowned as the king, noticed that suddenly everybody had gone absolutely quiet around him. Since it was day time, the owl could not see anything at all. He started growing restless and a little suspicious too. At last, he asked his attendants why the coronation was taking so long. The attendants replied, “Sir, the coronation ceremony has been postponed. The birds have changed their minds about crowning you as their king, They have all gone back to their homes now. There is nobody here.The owl was infuriated. “Why?” he asked.The attendant replied, “A crow put up arguments against the owl family. He said that owls are ugly and are killers.”The owl lost his temper even more. He said to the crow who was smirking, “You have deprived me of the honour of becoming the king of the birds. So, from now on, the owls will be sworn enemies of the crows. Beware of us.”The crow realised that his over-smartness had made him an enemy but it was too late now. Moral:Think twice before doing or saying anything.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crow and owl.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

Why the owls became the enemies of the crows

Once, a king had announced that anyone who wanted the post of personal assistant must meet him. Many people gathered in the palace. The king led them to a pond and said, "Whoever will fill this pond's water in this pot will be chosen for the post. But remember, there is a hole in the pot."So some people left without a single try. While some people tried for once and then said, "The king has already chosen someone else. Let's go."But one man kept filling the pot with pond water patiently. He filled the water in the pot from the pond and came out on the ground. But always within few moments, the water poured on the ground completely. He tried that uncountable numbers of times. At last the pond became empty. The man found a diamond ring in the empty pond and he gave it to the king. At this the king said, "This ring is a reward for your patience and hard work. You are fit for the job." Moral:Patience always pays.

This is a story king and ring.Moral(s) of story: patience

Pool of Patience

There was once a boy who always treated his mother horribly, shouting at her, insulting her. It didn't matter to him how sad he made her.One day, without knowing how, he woke up in an immense and lonely place. He was sitting on a rock from which four huge pillars rose up into the sky, appearing to support the entire world.He was all alone, but soon an enormous flock of crows with beaks made of steel landed on the rock, and set about violently chipping away at it.After the crows left, a mysterious door in one of the pillars opened, and through it came a charming and pretty girl. "Have you come to help us? That's great! We need all the people we can get."The boy was puzzled, and spotting his confusion, the little girl explained, "So you don't know where you are? This is the centre of the Earth. These pillars support the whole planet, and this rock keeps the pillars in place.""And how can I help you?" said the boy, confused. "Well, to help look after the rock, of course. Anyone can see by your face that you're the best person for the job," answered the girl,"The birds you saw are only increasing in number and if we don't look after this rock it will eventually crumble and everything will come crashing down.” "And what do you see in my face?!" exclaimed the boy, surprised. "I've never looked after a rock in my whole life!" "But you'll learn how, even if you've never done it. Here, look in this mirror," said the girl, holding one in front of the boy's face.The boy could clearly see he now had the face of a bird, and his nose was gradually turning into steel. There he stood, shocked and worried, not a word passing his lips. "All those crows used to be children like you and I”, explained the girl, "but they decided not to look after the rock. Now that they're older they've turned into evil birds; all they do is destroy the pillars now. Up to now, you haven't done much to look after it, but now that you know, will you help me to preserve all this?"She said all this with a smile, taking his hand in hers.The boy still didn't quite understand all this. He looked closely at the pillars and could see that each one was made of thousands and thousands of little figurines, representing the best virtues: sincerity, effort, honesty, generosity...Closely inspecting the ground beneath him, he could see that the enormous rock was made up of little instances of children showing respect to their mothers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and old people.What the crows were trying to do was cover over these instances by carving out scenes of shouting and insults. Next to his feet, he could see his own little carving, representing the last time he shouted at his mother. That image, in such a strange place, made him realise that the only thing keeping the columns standing was respect. Respect was sustaining the world.The boy, filled with regret, stayed there and looked after the rock for many days. He carried out his task joyfully, going without sleep to repel every crow attack. He carried on until, exhausted by his efforts, he collapsed; completely spent.When he woke he was back in his bed at home, and he didn't know whether it had all been a dream. However, what he was now sure of was that no crow would ever again get the chance to carve a picture of him shouting at his mother.Moral: It is only respect with which we can go forward in life.

This is a story of earth and crow.Moral(s) of the story: respect

Pillars of earth and a boy

The astrologer was flaunting his knowledge about the solar system and the earth’s shape.At one point Akbar said, “You say that the earth is round in shape, so if one travels in a straight line, then he will come back to the same spot from where he started the journey. Isn’t it?”“Yes, theoretically, it is correct Alampanah!”said the astrologer.“Why not in real life?” asked the king.“Because one will have to cross vast oceans, high mountains and dense forests to keep the path straight,” said the astrologer.“Well, that can be taken care of! Sail through the oceans, make tunnels in the mountains and use elephants to cross the forests,” suggested Akbar.“No sir, still it is not possible,” said the astrologer.“Why?” asked Akbar.“It will take many years to complete the whole journey,” replied the astrologer.“How many years, tell me?” asked Akbar.“I cannot calculate that! May be a hundred years or more,” said the flustered astrologer.“Don’t worry about that. I will ask my courtiers. They have an answer for everything,” saying this, Akbar looked at his ministers.Various answers came from the audience:“Impossible to calculate!”“Around 25 years!”“Fifty years or less.”“1000 days!”Everybody said something or the other but Birbal kept quiet.“Birbal, I did not expect you to be so silent. Do you have no answer for this question?” the Emperor showed his surprise at Birbal’s silence.“I was just calculating the time required to go round the earth,” retorted Birbal.“And did you get the answer?” asked Akbar.“Yes, I did! It will take just one day,” said Birbal.“Just one day! Birbal, it is Impossible! I wonder how you even came up with that answer. In one day, we will not be able to cross the territories of our own kingdom,” Said Akbar. “It is possible, Alampanah! Provided you travel at the speed of the sun,” said Birbal with a smile. Moral:Even if the question is silly, you can manage the situation by thinking on your feet and giving a witty answer.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal.This is story of wisdom.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Back to square one

Once there lived a boy whose parents owned a huge, beautiful castle. The castle was full of old paintings of kings, queens, prince, and princesses. One day, the boy was roaming around in the castle and noticed something strange about one of the paintings. Normally, the painting showed an old king eating his lunch with his followers. But the boy saw that the king was missing from the painting.The boy thought that if the king does not come back, the king’s spoon in the painting would fall and create a mess on the floor. So the boy searched the whole castle for the king for hours and at last found him enjoying a bubble bath in the biggest bathtub in the building. The boy was in shock at seeing this.The King explained it to him, “I have spent years and years in this castle but no one bothers to clean the dust off of him even once. I got so dirty and fed up and so left for the bath.” After hearing this, the boy told the king that if he did not return to the painting, the floor might get dirty and there would be even more dirt than it already was.The King agreed to return on one condition that his painting should be cleaned regularly. From that onwards, the boy took it on himself to clean all the paintings of the castle. Moral:Cleanliness is next to Godliness. This story teaches us that if we don’t keep our things and surroundings clean, no one would like to spend time with us.

This is a story of king.Moral(s) of the story: health hygiene

The Missing King

In a small village of GeneroCity, there lived a granny. Her family visited her after a long time and they decided to go out for brunch. Her toddler granddaughter was the centre of all the attention. The little girl had never eaten a pancake before so the entire family was excited about it. They went to a fancy restaurant and ordered every kind of pancake available at the restaurant.Each of the family members took turns digging in and also feeding it to the baby, who loved them. There was a lovely environment at the table and lots of smiles. There was a gentleman sitting at a nearby table and he was eating his breakfast alone quietly, in the corner. He frequently looked over and smiled at the lovely family.&nbsp;Suddenly, the granny of the family had a great idea. She dug out a smile card and snuck up to the waitress. She explained to her that she wanted to pay that man’s bill anonymously and that instead of the bill could the waitress please give him the smile card.After the gentleman left, the waitress came over and told the granny that he had passed the smile card on and paid for another table before he left. How great!Not only that though the waitress then came back later and told them that the second table had now paid for someone else and passed the smile card on too! The granny couldn’t believe it when the waitress came back and told her that the third table had done the same thing.What was really amazing though was that by the time the family had left, half the room had ended up paying for a different table!&nbsp; Moral:One good turn begets another.

This is a story of family, grandmother and pancake.Moral(s) of the story: generosity and kindness

painting 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.

Prince wicked and the grateful animals

Sardar Vallabhbhai patel’s Childhood

Ms. Toothbrush

Why the owls became the enemies of the crows

Pool of Patience

Pillars of earth and a boy

Back to square one

The Missing King

Pay it forward

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