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.

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

Once upon a time there was a little kid. He had to attend his school which was far away from his home. In order to reach there, he had to cover a long distance by walking. He also had to cross the forest which came on his way. The kid was afraid to cross the forest as he was alone. So, one day he spoke to his mom about his fear.His mother wanted him to overcome his fear. So, she told him that he had a cousin named Kanha, who herds cattle in the forest. She told him to shout his name and cross the forest without any fear.The next day when the kid was crossing the forest, he shouted Kanha with the hope that he would come to help him. Suddenly, a boy appeared before him and said his name was Kanha. He walked with him until they reached at the end of the forest.Every day after that, the boy would shout Kanha, and he would come to help him cross the forest. After some time, the boy became fearless. One day his mother asked the boy about his fear. The boy described the whole story to his mom.The mother was truly surprised after hearing the story. She eventually discovered that the boy who was accompanying her son was actually Lord Krishna. The mother realized that Lord Krishna helped her son in crossing the forest. This was possible because of his unwavering faith. Moral:Nothing is impossible for someone who has actual faith in God. God can help us in our difficult times and could give us strength.

This is a story of Krishna and mother.Moral(s) of the story: faith and fear

Faith over Fear

Pallavi Hota

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from The Mahabharata.After the end of the Mahabharata war, the Pandavs heard the sound of laughter. When they went near the source of sound, they could see Barbarika's head. Barbarika was none other than the grandson of Bhima and Hidimba. When he was a child, he was taught by his grandmother Hidimba that one would be liberated even if he is killed by Krishna.This lesson was engraved in his mind deeply and to fulfill this mission, he performed harsh actions for many years and obtained powerful weapons from various demi-gods. When the Mahabharat war was about to begin Barbarika decided to take the side of Kauravas. When Krishna did not approve of this, he told Krishna that he would kill the Pandavas at once and was about to shoot a weapon at them. Immediately he was beheaded by Lordís Sudarshan chakra and his wish of being killed by Krishna was fulfilled by the Lord.Then Barbarika offered prayers to the Lord and requested Krishna to allow him to watch the Lord in Mahabharat war. The Lord granted him spiritual vision. After watching all the pastimes of the Lord, Barbarika was laughing in ecstasy recollecting the same. When the Pandavas heard this from Barbarika, they were eager to know who fought more bravely in the war. Barbarika replied ñ ìIn reality, NO ONE FOUGHT. Everywhere it was only sudarshan chakra which was moving around actively causing Bhismadev, Dronacharya, Karna, Jayadrath and all the warriors to fall down.

Barbarika watching Mahabharata war

Ravina Sewani

There was once a teacher who gave his pupils some seeds so they could plant, and look after, their very own sunflower. One boy in the class, who loved sunflower seeds, was so excited that he planted the seed and looked after it with great care for many days.When the first shoot finally appeared, the boy, filled with impatience, went to see his teacher.-"Can I uproot it yet?" he asked, anxiously. The teacher answered that he would still have to tend the plant for quite some time before he would be able to collect many seeds from just one sunflower. The boy was disappointed, but he kept on looking after his sunflower.However, he grew increasingly impatient, and did little else but pester his teacher about wanting to take out the plant. Despite the teacher asking him to be patient, as soon as the boy saw the sunflower's first seeds, he cut the plant so he could eat them. But the plant was still green, the seeds were not ripe, and of course they couldn't be eaten.The boy was devastated: He had put so much effort into caring for the sunflower, but in the end he had squandered it all for a simple lack of patience. And he was even angrier when he saw how enormous his classmates' sunflowers grew. Ultimately, he resolved not to be so impatient in the future, and to listen to his teacher. Fortunately, he wasn't completely out of luck, and his friends were good enough to share their delicious sunflower seeds with him.Moral: Patience is the key to success.

This is a story of educator, flower and sunflower.Moral(s) of the story: patience

Sunflower which did not grow

Guru Nanak once flew to Kashmir with Mardana and Bala, his two friends who had always supported him. They reached to the city of Sri Nagar. Because of Nanak’s beliefs and teachings, people knew who he was.A Pundit named Brahm Das, also lived in that town. He said, "I don't think I'm going to be pleased with this newcomer. It is me who has great knowledge and supernatural powers. I'm going to show him my potential. I'm going to fly down to where he is seated and there's no question that when I land, he'll be impressed.”He got on his rug and flew up to where a large crowd had assembled around the Guru. All seemed happy. He looked and searched but there was no place where he could see Guru Nanak. He landed and asked the people, "Where is this Guru?" The Guru was sitting among the crowd with his sweet voice and beautiful face, but the Pundit was unable to see him.He was trying to fly free from his rug, yet it wasn't effective. None of his tactics worked, and he had to walk back on foot.The next day, the pundit humbly walked on foot to meet the Guru. This time he saw the Guru among the crowd. The pundit bowed before the Guru and asked, “Respected Guru, I was not able to see yesterday. I want to know why?” The Guru replied, “How could you see in such extreme darkness?”. The pundit surprisingly said, “Darkness? But it was the day.” The Guru replied, “There is no deeper darkness than pride. Because you can fly you think you are so great. Look around, the birds can fly, the insects can fly. Do you want to be like them?”Guru further added, “You worship gods and goddesses and they are temporary just like humans. You followed men of great knowledge and have become lost in that knowledge. That kind of knowledge which increases the darkness of ego, it will not help you. Look within yourself and see the truth.”Pandit was impressed by the words and said, “I have now learned to seek wisdom and happiness from within.”

This is a story of guru Nanak.Moral(s) of the story: ego and wisdom

Guru Nanak and his two friends

Yesha Desai

It is said that once when Akbar had lost his way, Mahesh Das, aka Birbal had helped him find his way to his capital, Agra. It was an interesting encounter in which Mahesh Das had immensely impressed the Emperor by his quick wit. The Emperor had gifted his royal ring to Mahesh Das and invited him to join his&nbsp;court.After some days, Mahesh Das decided to go to Agra to meet the Emperor.&nbsp;The sentry at the main gate&nbsp;did not allow him to enter.&nbsp;Mahesh Das then showed&nbsp;him the ring that the Emperor had gifted him. The guard&nbsp;was very greedy. He thought that if he allowed this young man to go inside, he would get more rewards and gifts from the Emperor and then he would ask the boy to share them with him. So, the sentry agreed to allow Mahesh Das to go inside&nbsp;the court&nbsp;on one condition- that he would give him half of the reward he would get from the Emperor. Mahesh Das accepted the condition.Mahesh Das went inside and presented himself in front of the Emperor. He greeted the Emperor and showed the ring to Akbar.Akbar immediately recognised the young man and said, “Oh young man! It is so good to see you. Tell me what do you want from the King of Hindustan?”“Jahanpanah! I want to be flogged! I want 50 lashes from you as a reward,” replied Mahesh Das.Everybody in the royal court was stunned. They thought that he was mad. Akbar was also greatly surprised by the young man’s strange request and asked him the reason.Mahesh Das said he would only tell him the reason after receiving his reward.&nbsp;Akbar knew that there must be something going on in the clever young man’s mind and asked his guards to flog him as per his wish.After the twenty fifth lash, Mahesh Das asked the guards to stop and requested the Emperor to call&nbsp;the sentry&nbsp;who was at the&nbsp;main gate.The sentry was summoned in the court. He was happy at the thought that he was being called for his reward. To his surprise, Mahesh Das told the Emperor,”Jahanpanah! This sentry of yours had let me in on the condition that I would share half of my reward with him. I want to keep my promise, so I request you to give the remaining twenty five lashes to him.”The Emperor and all the courtiers were amused at the young man’s wit. Akbar ordered fifty lashes of the whip for the sentry along with 5 years of imprisonment. He then rewarded Mahesh Das with a permanent place in his court and gave him a new name, ‘Birbal.’ He was so fond of Birbal’s wit and sense of humour that he bestowed him with the title of ‘Raja’ and included him in his special committee of nine advisers, who were also known as ‘Navratans.’Because of his razor sharp wit and presence of mind, Birbal soon became a close friend of the Emperor. Moral:Greediness is a bane and we must steer clear of it.

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

Birbal is born

Once upon a time in a little house on the edge of the woods a girl called Goldilocks lived with her parents. One morning she woke up as the sun was streaming through her window; thinking it was time for school, she leapt out of bed.Goldilocks pestered her mother. Her mother was busy “It’s far too early for school; don’t get fussy. Why don’t you go out for a walk? You can pick some blackberries on the way back so we can make a pie for dinner tonight” she suggested.Goldilocks readily went into the woods with a basket looking out for blackberries. She was so immersed in herself that she went further and further into the woods.After humming and walking for a while, she began to feel hungry and tired.&nbsp;At some distance, she saw a cottage and thought, “Perhaps I could get something to eat there and have a rest”.She knocked on the door but there was no reply. She pushed the door gently and to her surprise, it opened. Cautiously she went in. “Hello” she called, but there was no reply.The door opened into a kitchen and she could smell something delicious. She looked around and saw three bowls on the table. The bowls were of 3 different sizes, big, medium, and small. By each bowl was a chair according to the sizes of the bowls - big, medium and small. Goldilocks crashed onto the biggest chair because it had the biggest bowl of porridge by it. She picked up a big spoon and tried the porridge “Ouch” she cried for the porridge was very very hot and she burnt her tongue.She moved to the medium-sized chair next to the medium-sized bowl. Picking up a middle sized spoon she tried the porridge. “Yuck” she said, for it was way too cold.She got up and sat on the smallest chair near the smallest bowl. Picking up the smallest spoon she tried the porridge. It was perfect. So, very very quickly Goldilocks ate all the porridge up. When she was just about to finish the porridge in the smallest bowl, she heard a strange creaking sound. As soon as she ate the last spoonful, the legs of the chair she was sitting on broke and she landed with a bump on the floor.Because she had eaten so much of porridge and because of the bump, she felt very sleepy. She wanted to take a small nap so she explored the cottage for a bed to lie down. Upstairs, she found a great big bed, she climbed up onto it but, oh, it was so hard.Then she found a medium-sized bed, she climbed into it but it was so soft she felt as though she would disappear in it.Then she found a small bed. It felt just right so she climbed right into it, pulled the covers over herself and was soon fast asleep.As soon as she fell asleep the owners of the cottage came back. The owners were 3 bears, Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear and Baby Bear. They had gone out for a walk in the woods before breakfast and now they were hungry.“What’s this!” growled Daddy Bear, “it looks as though someone’s been messing with my porridge and whoever it is has left muddy footprints on my chair”.Mummy Bear came to look “You’re right, my dear” she said in her soft growl “someone’s been messing with my porridge too, and I’m sure the cushion on my chair has been sat on”.Then Baby Bear began to cry, “Someone’s been messing with my porridge and they’ve eaten it all up and they’ve broken my chair as well” he sobbed in his little, squeaky, growl.All the three bears were wondering who had been into their cottage and caused damages. They looked around the house and went upstairs.“Well” growled Daddy Bear “Someone’s been in my bed, but where is this someone?” “Someone’s been in my bed too” said Mummy Bear “but I can’t find them” Then they heard a squeak from Baby Bear “Daddy, Mummy, come quickly, there’s someone fast asleep in my bed.”Daddy and Mummy Bear raced into Baby Bear’s room and stood around his bed. She woke with a surprise and was frightened to see three bears all looking down at her. Before they could talk to her, she jumped out of bed, out of the window and ran away through the woods back to her home because she didn’t know that they were really gentle, friendly bears.“Well I never” growled Daddy Bear scratching his head “my Grandfather told me people were strange.&nbsp;Fancy! Eating all that porridge and then running away”.&nbsp;Puzzled, the three bears went back to the kitchen where Daddy Bear mended Baby Bear’s chair while Mummy Bear made more porridge, and from that day to this bears all over the world have always known that people are strange things who are not to be trusted with porridge.

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS

One day Motu Patlu was sitting at a tea stall… sipping tea... while the chaiwala removed piping hot samosas from the huge frying pan...Motu hungrily kept towards the large platter piled up with crisp golden brown samosas… Motu was about to stuff his mouth with the samosa.... opening his mouth wide... while he suddenly heard a sudden shriek and wail... Motu Patlu and chaiwala looked around..and to their surprise..they were shocked to see the crispy golden tasty-looking Samosa screeching and wailing...and it pleaded "Please don't eat me...I shall tell you a secret magical spell... which will save you from troubles..." Chai Wala...Faints...on the spot.. seeing the entire episode...Patlu..."What rubbish...I don't believe in your false tales..."Samosa..in an angry tone. "Ok in that case...I shall never tell you the secret magical spell" Motu... Promptly... "Ohh Samose bhaiyya don't be angry. I shall not eat you... you are free"Samosa..."Ohh Motu that's so thoughtful of you...in that case, I shall tell only you the secret magical spell.." Samosa..."Bring your ears near me..Motu.."Motu brings his ears near Samosa... Samosa..", Listen carefully...Motu...this is a secret magical spell it will help you get out of trouble and convert enemies into friends... you can also use this spell to save others from troubles...but you shall remember the spell only when the need arises.&nbsp; "When you cast the secret magical spell...yummy looking hypnotic samosas will appear and the lingering aroma shall make people eat the tasty looking samosas..thus the magical samosas shall break troubles and build friendships..now listen carefully.. to the spell. Sab bann jaaye mere dost at any cost....." Saying this the Samosa vanishes in thin air... Just then Boxer comes running red in anger towards Motu Patlu.. screaming... Boxer.."I shall not spare you guys today... you'll have spoiled my swanky new car...by scrubbing it with a scrubber..." Patlu..."Run Motu... trouble has arrived..." Suddenly Motu remembers the secret magical spell...Motu murmurs...Sab bann jaaye mere dost at any cost..."golden brown crispy samosas appear...and Boxer is lured towards them...Boxer hypnotically gobbles up the magical samosas...and instantly has a change in a heart filled with affection for Motu Patlu...Boxer tightly hugs Motu and Patlu.. and makes them his best friends... From then Fur furi Nagar turns into a friendly town... with no fights...only...friends...and everyone lives happily together.

The Samosa Spell

Tara was always very concerned about the way she looked. She always wondered why she wasn’t as thin as the other girls or as tall as the other girls.Her friends tried to assure her that it didn’t matter, but Tara didn’t listen. One day when she was very sad, she cried about it to her mother. Her mother took her to the kitchen and said, “Here, I will make Dosa!”Tara’s face immediately lit up because it was her favourite dish. She noticed her three tiny Dosa were of different shapes. Not round at all. Once she was done, Tara’s mother asked her if she noticed any difference in her food. Tara replied, “The Dosas are unevenly shaped, Ma.”And her mother smiled, “Yes, but was there any difference in how yummy they were?” Tara shook her head.Her mother patted her daughter’s head and said, “Just like your food did not taste different because of its shape, what you have to offer and how valuable you do not depend on the way you look.” Moral:The way you look is not everything, and you can be just as valuable by being you.

This is a story of a mother, daughter and delicious dosa.Moral(s) of the story: self-love

swimming 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 vain Crows

Faith over Fear

Barbarika watching Mahabharata war

Sunflower which did not grow

Guru Nanak and his two friends

Birbal is born

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS

The Samosa Spell

The Story Of A Dosa

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