Have you noticed how little children love to tell stories? They can spin their own tales with ease, and they put together almost everything they hear or see, in one single tale. The more we listen the more they tell. This is because they love stories. They learn and retain better when it is in a story format. The minute you tell them “It’s story time” you can see the excitement in them and they get impatient for the story to start. Once you start narrating, they will be engrossed and will absorb every single detail you tell.
Elly@Home – the home-schooling module by Little Elly has made story telling an integral part of their curriculum. Elly@Home has a diversified curriculum which not only covers good ground in terms of educating a small child, but it does so in a fun and interesting manner too. Activities are done in class (virtual), sent home to encourage the child to explore and learn in their own time while moral stories for kids are told to keep the child entertained and to teach them morals in an interesting manner. Elly@Home has beautifully brought together Little Elly’s experience in handling small children in physical school to virtual learning, in a neat little package for young children.
In This Article
Importance of Storytelling
When you tell a story to a child, the child tends to recall even the tiniest of details with great clarity. They make their own inference from the story. Therefore moral stories for children have been a big hit for generations.
Today with the increasing use of gadgets and screen time, the book reading habit has been dying a slow death. Many authors and publishers have come up with a variety of tales to pique the interest in kids for books.
When it comes to storytelling, the more dramatic the storytelling is, the more the child will love it. It is not just reading or paraphrasing from a book. Elly@Home ensures its storytelling sessions for the kids are as entertaining and eventful as possible. Elly@Home podcasts for story time are very entertaining and are mostly nature based. Children love nature – animals, trees, earth, etc.
When you narrate tales with morals to these young minds, they grasp it fast and hard. This helps in shaping them and providing the world with a generation of thoughtful minds. The moral stories for kids work much better than the parents just “talking” or preaching a particular behavior to the child.
[Read : Advantages Of Reading Stories For Kids]
10 Interesting Moral Stories For Kids
There are a number of moral stories in English books and online with important morals to teach a child. However, some may not make sense and some may not be apt for young minds. It is the parents’ and teachers’ responsibilities, to read, verify and finalize a list of books that is suitable for a small child.
We have filtered out 10 such stories with important and inspiring morals that can add great value to a child. When the story is inspiring, the child wants to follow those steps. This helps parents and teachers mould them into great human beings.
1. The Monkey and the Crocodile
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This is a classic short moral story for kids in English about two friends – a crocodile and a monkey. The story tells us about how a crocodile, despite being friends with the monkey, tries to eat it, and how the monkey uses its presence of mind to escape. When the crocodile takes the monkey away on its back, in the pretence of inviting it home, it reveals the real intention behind the invitation – to eat the monkey. The monkey, instead of panicking, uses its presence of mind and gets away from the crocodile.
The story teaches the children how not to blindly trust someone and to be street smart when in trouble. It is important for children to understand from a young age that they need to “think” when in trouble and not just freeze in panic.
Moral – A Quick Wit can Solve Problems
2. The Elephants and the Mice
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This is a well illustrated short moral story for kids about the big and small creatures. The story is about how the little mice help elephants and show size does not matter. A group of elephants are stuck in a net and the mice help free them. Despite being tiny and mocked by bigger animals, the mice prove to be useful when the time comes.
This teaches the children that being big or small does not matter and they can still help others. This is an important lesson for children – to understand that just because they are bigger or smaller than other children, does not determine their true worth. It also shows them the importance of friendship and how one should always help a friend in need.
Moral – A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
3. The Foolish Thief
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This is a story about a thief who steals a goat from a house and then two days later steals a cow too. The owners of the house trick the thief to believe there is lot of unattended gold in the house. Without realizing it is a trap, the foolish thief enters the house to steal but gets caught instead. This teaches the children two things – stealing is bad and if you think smart, you can trap the thief.
Moral – Smart Thinking Can Save the Day
4. Two Frogs With the Same Problem
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This is a story about two frogs that got trapped in a deep pit and were unable to come up. While other frogs were discouraging, one of the frogs refused to give up. One frog gave up and accepted defeat while the other frog kept trying and eventually jumped out successfully.
The thought of the day for kids in this story is to never give up and keep trying despite others’ discouragement. In today’s world, where many try to discourage others from succeeding, it is important to teach young children that they should never give up without a fight, and they can succeed if they put in the hard work.
Moral – Try Hard and Never Give Up
5. The Potato, The Egg, and The Coffee Bean
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This is a beautiful story explaining how a problem can change you and the result depends on how you respond to the problem. A father shows his son how a potato, egg and coffee bean react differently to the same problem – hot water. The texture of each of the items changes once they are exposed to boiling water.
This short moral story teaches children the outcome of a problem can be different if they react differently to it. Many times even we adults forget our reaction to a situation can impact the final outcome while the end result may be in our hands.
Moral – The Way you React or Respond to a Situation can Result in Different Outcomes.
6. The Milkmaid and Her Pail
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This is a fresh children stories’ version of the old saying – “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”. The story is about a milkmaid who daydreams about what she would do with all the money she can earn from selling the milk in the future and forgets the present. This results in all her milk going to waste. This teaches the children to focus on the present and not just drift away dreaming.
Moral – Focus on the Process Rather Than the End Result Alone.
7. The Elephant Circus
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This is a story about five elephants that are held captive in a circus to do tricks and entertain people. The elephants are tied up with a weak rope, which could’ve been easily broken, if only they had tried. Instead, they believe they are weak and cannot do anything about their situation and never try to break free.
This simple short story in English tells children not to give up without trying first. Today, societal pressure is very high for both young and old children. What people say can have a deep impact on a child’s mind and shape their character. This story encourages children to not believe what others say about them and motivates them to try and break free from societal pressure and beliefs.
Though a very young child may not understand the story or it’s morals, it can be a good value addition to a little older child. We parents and teachers must tell the children they are more than what society thinks of them.
Moral – Believe in Yourself Than What the Society Tells About You
8. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
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This is an interesting story about a boy who loves to fool others. A shepherd boy who used to take a flock of sheep to the forest to graze pretends to be in danger and cries for help. The people come running to help him – twice. Then they realize he is a liar and does not turn back to help him when he cries for help the third time. This time he is really in trouble and needs help but because he lost people’s trust, he doesn’t get any help in time.
Young children love to pretend to play and don’t know where to draw the line. You might have noticed how they come up with wild stories about a dangerous situation around them and how they got out, etc. Children love to get creative and test their limits in every angle. This is their way of growing up and understanding boundaries.
This story tells them how people will stop believing you if you lie constantly and it will hurt you in the end.
Moral – No One Will Believe Liars Even When They Tell the Truth
9. The Golden Touch of Midas
An old classic tale about a greedy king. A king who is greedy and loves gold asks a fairy for a wish that whatever he touches would turn into gold. Once his wish is granted, he is overjoyed and touches everything around him, and surrounds himself with gold. Until he sits down to eat, he doesn’t realize there are things more important than gold and riches. When he touches his daughter and she turns into a gold statue, he understands how greed can harm you and your loved ones around you.
This is an inspirational moral story that tells children to not be greedy, rather than directly preach it to them. They get excited till the part in the story where everything turns into gold like magic and when the little daughter also turns into gold, it gets personal for them and impacts them. This lesson about greed will stay with them longer through this story than us adults repeatedly telling them – it is bad to be greedy.
Moral – Never be Greedy
10. The Three Little Pigs
A very entertaining picture moral story for kids about three pigs that leave home to build their own houses and how they learn to fend off their enemy- the wolf. While two pigs find the easy way out to build a house and use the time to play, the third pig puts in hard work and spends time building a sturdy house.
The interesting illustrations of the wolf huffing and puffing to blow away the houses is loved by children. Through this story they learn what is strong and what is not and who the pig’s enemy is. The important lesson they learn is about hard work.
Children love to play and if they can finish work early to get more play time, they would do it. This story tells them how that is not the right thing to do and one has to put in effort for lasting results.
Moral – Hard Work Pays
[Read : The Power of Children’s Picture Books]
When stories are narrated with actions, right emotions and props, children understand better and remember the stories for a long time to come. A story becomes their favorite not only because of the characters in it or what the story is about, but also because of the way it is told to them.
Storytelling is a very impactful way to teach values to young minds and Elly@Home does just that. It has interesting stories in its kitty, which are narrated using interesting techniques and variety, which the children love. Put your child in front of the screen for a storytelling session by Elly@Home and you will be amazed by how much they grasp and how they give you that highly carved “quiet time”.
These story sessions are more interactive, fun and helpful than just showing videos on the screen.
Read Also: Homeschooling : Pros and Cons
