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.

Ravina Sewani

There was a fox called Dabbu. One day, he was very happy after having a hearty meal. He had seen the lion going for a stroll after his meal and had gone into the lion’s den and gorged on the remains of the lion’s feast. It was a scrumptious meal of deer meat. “I wish I was lucky enough to have such a feast every day,” Dabbu thought. Dabbu started walking, looking at the clear sky, singing his favourite song, much contented with his lovely meal. He thought about film heroes and how they would sing and walk like this when they were in love.Dabbu wasn’t in love, but he thought that the emotional satisfaction obtained from a good meal was no less than the feeling of being in love. Dabbu’s eyes were almost filled with tears as myriad emotional thoughts crossed his mind, when he suddenly found himself falling into something really deep.“Dhuuummm, dhumm,” the sound came, and Dabbu understood that he was in trouble. On looking around he realized that he had fallen into a shallow well. He was lucky that there wasn’t much water in the well. It was a wide mouthed well that Dabbu had noticed every day while passing by it. It was only today that he was lost in his thoughts and had simply overlooked it. Dabbu was really angry at himself for being so foolish and careless and wanted to hit himself.He tried his best to get out of the well by climbing on its walls, but all in vain as the walls were too slippery. Frustrated, he waited for someone to come to help.Suddenly, Dabbu heard a squeaky voice, “What on earth are you doing down there?” Dabbu looked up and much to his relief he found Laadla the goat standing at the mouth of the well. He was a young and gullible goat. Dabbu knew that Laadla was innocent and ignorant of the world, as he was always asking very irritating questions. Dabbu was determined to get out of the well using Laadla’s help. It has never been difficult for a fox to fool a goat. He said, “Aren’t you aware that there has been a huge drought in the northern part of Bihar (they lived in a jungle in Bihar)?” “Really? I haven’t heard of any such thing” said the innocent goat. Dabbu replied, “That’s strange. Shantaram crow gave me the news this morning and he has also seen it with his own eyes as he was travelling from the same area. That is why I jumped into this well to save some water for myself.”“Oh God, how terrible!” exclaimed Laadla and jumped into the well in no time. As soon as Laadla jumped into the well, Dabbu climbed on his long horns and jumped out of the well. Dabbu said, “You are such a silly creature. You are not even aware that there have been floods all around the northern part of the country, and you believed my story of a drought. Instead of talking about a frog in a well, now people will talk about a goat in a well.”Laadla was stupefied and said to himself, “One should never trust anyone blindly.” Moral:One should never trust anyone blindly. Always use your wisdom and analyse the situation before putting in your trust.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of fox and goat.Moral(s) of the story: trust

The fox and the goat

Shina Utavani

Once, there lived a farmer in land far away. He was very poor. He lived with his wife. One day they both were very hungry. They did not have anything to eat. Their neighbour had a beautiful garden. The farmer decided to pluck fruits from the garden. As soon as he plucked an apple, a voice came from behind. It was from his neighbour. His neighbour was an old witch. She screamed, “How dare you take fruits from my garden. I will turn you both into rats.” The couple was very scared. They requested her to forgive them and assured her they will never pluck any fruit from her garden. The witch said, “Okay, I will forgive you only if you will give me your first child.” The couple was very scared so they agreed immediately.The couple was blessed with a beautiful baby girl after a few years. When the old witch came to know about the baby, she immediately came and snatched the baby away from them. The witch named her Rapunzel. She did not want her parents to take her away, so she locked her up in a tall tower. The Rapunzel looked pretty when she grew up. She was very beautiful. The most beautiful thing about her was her hair. She had long, golden hair.Rapunzel was locked up in a tower since birth so, the only person she saw in her life was the old witch. The old witch use to come to meet her every day. The witch used to climb the tall tower with the help of Rapunzel’s hair. The witch used to tell Rapunzel to let down her hair from the window and she used to climb the tower with that.A prince was passing by the tower one day and saw the witch climbing the tower with the hair. The prince was surprised and he too wanted to try. When the old witch left the place, the prince went below the tower. He then shouted, “Rapunzel, let your hair down.” Rapunzel heard the noise and threw her hair from the window. The prince climbed the tower and reached to her room. Rapunzel was shocked to see the prince. The prince was very handsome and she had never seen someone like that before. Prince was also stunned to see Rapunzel. They both fell in love instantly. After that, every day they began to meet secretly.However, one day when the witch was climbing the tower, Rapunzel mistakenly said, “You are so much heavier than my prince.” The witch understood what was happening and she got angry on Rapunzel. She screamed and cut off her long hair. She sent Rapunzel into a forest. And that day when the prince came to the tower, the witch cursed the prince and he became blind. The prince then went to find Rapunzel in the forest with no eyesight.After many days, Rapunzel found the prince in the forest among the trees. The prince had many injuries. Rapunzel cried when she came to know that the prince had lost his eyesight. As Rapunzel was crying, her tears fell on the prince. Due to her tears, the wounds of the prince started healing. The eyesight of the prince came back. The prince opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Rapunzel. They both were really happy to see each other. They both hugged each other and decided to go to the prince’s kingdom. They went far away from the wicked witch to the prince’s kingdom and lived happily ever after. Moral:The value of patience and determination. It also teaches the consequences of stealing.

This is a story of hair, kingdom, prince, rapunzel and witch.Moral(s) of the story: bravery and strength

Rapunzel

Yesha Desai

Chim loved dancing. It was not just a hobby for her or a way to spend her time, but even at her young age, she was sure that dance was her one true love.At her dance academy, she was one of the most talented students but she still could not perfect her techniques.One day, at her dance class, a new teacher appeared. He was just as talented as her other teachers, but the difference was that while the other teachers were young, he was 65.Chim watched her teacher dance while pouring his heart into it, performing with grace that many younger students could not perfect.She was enchanted by his hard work and decided to have a talk with him. She learned that her teacher’s last professional dance competition was well over twenty years ago and yet he had stuck to his gruelling training.When she asked him what drove him to work so hard, he said, “I love dancing. But the discipline is all in my mind.”She stopped and thought for a moment if discipline can drive a 65 year old man to train so hard and enjoy it, then how powerfully discipline could serve every single human being on the face of this planet?She realised that to reach where she wanted, she needed more than just passion. She needed discipline, control and a very strong work ethic. Moral:Being disciplined in your work can set you free of limitations that surround you in achieving your goals.

This is a story of dancing, educator and student.Moral(s) of the story: discipline

The dance teacher

One night, Emperor Akbar dreamed that he had lost all his teeth, except one. He was greatly disturbed with the strange dream. The next morning he summoned all the astrologers of his kingdom and asked them to interpret his dream.All the astrologers held a meeting and after a long discussion, the astrologers prophesied that his dream was an indication that all his relatives would die before him.Akbar was greatly distressed by this interpretation and so he sent away all the astrologers without any reward.Later that day, the Emperor happened to meet Birbal. He narrated his dream to Birbal and asked him to interpret it. He also told him what the astrologers had told him.Birbal thought for a while and said, “It means, Alampanah, you will live a longer &amp; more fulfilled life than any of your relatives.”Akbar cheered up when he heard Birbal’s version and rewarded him handsomely.Birbal had also conveyed the same thing as the astrologers to the Emperor, but in an intelligent manner. Moral:Optimism is a choice. If we choose to be optimistic in any situation, chances are the bad phase would pass quickly and smoothly.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of Akbar Birbal and tooth.Moral(s) of the story: optimism

Akbar’s Dream

It is Tim’s father’s birthday today and little Tim wants to surprise him with a gift. He knows that his father loves chocolate cake so Tim decides to bake his father a chocolate cake.&nbsp; He tells his mother about his idea and his mother agrees to help him.&nbsp; First they search the recipe for the cake. It looks a little tough but Tim figures that he can still give it a try. He goes with his grandfather to purchase the ingredients. They buy milk, eggs, flour and chocolate. When he returns home, Tim is very excited and so he runs to the kitchen with the ingredients.&nbsp; His mother says, “Slow down or else you will end up dropping everything.” He is embarrassed and smiles a little but then quickly gets to work. He dries the utensils that his mother washed and cleans them.&nbsp; Then he carefully listens as his mother instructs him.&nbsp; He measures and pours the flour, milk, sugar, eggs, and chocolate.Then when all the ingredients are mixed and the cake is put in the oven, Tim dances around the house, excitedly looking at the clock and waiting for his father to come home.&nbsp; When he does, Tim excitedly rushes to the kitchen to grab the cake that is now made. In his hurry, he forgot that the vessel was still hot and flinched at the touch. Tim dropped the cake. His mother immediately moved to help him and everyone fussed around to secure Tim. He felt very bad for not being able to do something good but his father looked at him and smiled. He said, “Thank you, son. Making this must have taken a lot of hard work. I am proud of you!” Tim shook his head and said, “But I dropped it and ruined it in the end.” His father laughed and said, “That is alright. It is not the gift, but the thought and emotions put into one that counts.”

This is a story of father, mother, grandmother, son and cake.

Tim and his cake

Once upon a time, a king frog used to live in a well with his family and subjects. The king frog had some evil relatives who wanted to snatch the throne away from him. They kept causing problems in his reign. Once, they conspired with a minister in the king frog’s court and started a revolt against the king frog. The king frog managed to subdue the revolt but he was very angry. He wanted to take revenge on his evil relatives and unfaithful subjects. He thought of a plan. He came out of the well and made his way to a hole where he knew that a big, black snake used to live. He called out to the snake.The snake was surprised to hear a frog calling him and slithered out of the hole. The frog said to the snake, “Hello. I want to be your friend.” The snake was astonished. “How can a snake and a frog be friends?” he said. “We are natural enemies.”“Listen to me. I have a plan,” said the frog and told the snake all about his evil relatives. “I want to teach them a lesson,” he added. “So, I will take you to the well and you can eat all of them.” The snake was interested. “Is there water in your well?” he asked.The frog replied, “Not much. But a little above the water level, there is a hole in the wall of the well. You can live there comfortably and eat my relatives.”The serpent agreed. He followed the frog back to the well. On reaching there, the frog said, “Here are my evil relatives. You can eat all of them except my near and dear ones.” Thus, the serpent started living in the hole in the well’s wall. One by one, he started eating up the frogs that were pointed out by the king frog. In a few days’ time, the snake had eaten all the evil frogs and only the king frog and his family were left. The snake came up to the king frog and said, “I have eaten up all your evil relatives and rebels as you wanted. I have also eaten your unfaithful minister. Now, there is nothing left for me to eat except you and your family.” Saying this, the serpent eyed him hungrily. The king frog realized his mistake. He knew he was in great danger. He had made friends with his natural enemy for his selfish motives and to punish his enemies. Now he felt that his own death was near. But he managed to keep his cool and replied, “Do not worry. I will go to some other wells and ponds and persuade some frogs to come and live in this well. Then you can feed on them.”The serpent liked the idea. “Hurry up, then. I am hungry,” he said. So, with this pretext, the king frog along his wife and his near and dear ones came out of the well and ran for their lives, vowing never to return to that well again. Moral:Actions taken in haste often end up causing more trouble.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of frog and snake.

The frog and the serpent

There was once a magician who was very clever and smart. He worked on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. He performed different tricks every night. The tourists and the crowd loved the magician. The cruise had different crowd every night so instead of playing new tricks, he used the same tricks over and over again.The captain of the ship had a pet parrot. The parrot noticed everything that happened on the ship. He saw the tricks performed by the magician every day. The parrot was smart and intelligent. After seeing the tricks many times, the parrot learned how the magician performed his tricks.The parrot used to tell everyone about the trick. When the magician would perform the trick he would shout, “Look, it is not the same hat.” He would then say, “Why are all the cards in this deck Ace of spades?” This made the magician very angry. The parrot would ruin the fun of the magic tricks. The magician was annoyed by the parrot but could not do anything as he was the captain’s pet. Things continued to be the same for a long time. They both did not like each other.One day, the ship sank in the sea. The terrible storm had broken the ship. The ship broke into many pieces and the passengers and crew members were drowning in the sea. Luckily, the parrot had flown away and placed himself on a wooden chunk. The magician also managed to save himself by hanging on the same wooden chunk as the parrot.They stared at each other with hatred. They did not utter a single word. This went on for days and then finally one day, the parrot could not hold back any longer and said, “Okay, I give up. Where’s the ship?”

This is a story of magician, parrot and ship.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The Magician and the Parrot

Pallavi Hota

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayanaî.Rama and Lakshmana began their search for Sita after Ravana kidnapped her. They entered Kishkindha, the kingdom of the monkeys. Soon they came to a mountain where Sugreeva lived. He was the ruler of the monkey kingdom. Hanuman, a devoted follower of Sugreeva, guarded the entrance to the kingdom. "Who are you?" Hanuman asked. "I am Rama, the exiled prince of Ayodhya. This is my brother, Lakshmana. We wish to see your king. I am hoping he can help us find my wife, Sita. She was taken by Ravana." Rama and Lakshmana met Sugreeva. They told their story. Sugreeva said, "I, too, am in exile. My brother seized my kingdom and my queen. Help me regain my throne and I will help you find your wife.îRama and Lakshmana defeated Sugreeva's brother and won him the throne back. Rama and Lakshmana returned to the forest. They could not begin their search for Sita until the rain stopped. Rama grew more depressed. Then when the sun shone upon the land again, Hanuman arrived. Sugreeva had fulfilled his promise. Hanuman divided his troops into four divisions. Each division would go in search of Sita for one month. At the end of the month, three of the four divisions returned with no word of Sita's whereabouts. Only Hanuman's division had yet to return.

This is a story of Ram, Laxman and hanuman.

Rama's Stay in Kishkindha

On a fine, beautiful day Tara’s school takes all first graders out on a field trip. The aim of this field trip is to tell the children about different places in the city.Firstly they went to a police station. There Tara learned how a police station works and the police work.&nbsp;In the police station she met policemen. Police works very hard to keep us safe and punishes people who do wrong.&nbsp;Next they went to a post office. A post office is where the mail we write goes. We can write our letters and send it at the post office, from there it gets delivered to other cities and the postman takes it to our desired location.After that they went to a fire station and they met firefighters. Fire fighters put their lives on a risk to protect people who are stuck in a fire. Tara saw fire trucks and giant hose pipes which are used to spray water over fires.Next came a grocery store. A grocery store is where you can buy vegetables, dairy products, fruits that you need daily.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then they went to the airport. An airport is where planes land and you can board them. There so many different types of planes. She saw the airport security, pilots and passengers.After the airport they went to the library which was Tara’s personal favourite stop. They saw many different types of books all neatly arranged.That day the kids learnt a lot about how different institutions in the city work.

This is a story of airport. fire station, grocery store, library, police station, post office and post man.

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 fox and the goat

Rapunzel

The dance teacher

Akbar’s Dream

Tim and his cake

The frog and the serpent

The Magician and the Parrot

Rama's Stay in Kishkindha

Field trip!

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