I leave you a list with short fables for children with its morals. Among them are some of the most popular; the hare and the tortoise, the lion and the mouse, the cicada and the ant, Pedro and the wolf and many more.
With these examples you will be able to entertain and transmit moral concepts through its charismatic animals. Some are Mexican, others Spanish, others from Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador…
Children’s fables look like a lyrical composition that will never go out of style. From Aesop’s «Cicada and the Ant» to María Samaniego’s «The Hen that Laid the Golden Eggs» to the most modern ones by Colombian writer Rafael Pombo, all of them highlight his ability to educate and make people reflect through morals. children.
Everyone from the smallest of the house to the adults, we have gone through fable readings from our parents or grandparents, many of them remaining impregnated in our memory and which we have transmitted to our little ones.
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List of short fables for children
The hare and the Tortoise
Once, a hare made fun of the short legs and slow walking of a tortoise, however, the tortoise did not remain silent and defended itself by laughing and saying to the hare: – You may be very fast, hare friend. , but, I am more than sure that I will be able to win a race from you.
The hare, surprised by what the tortoise told him, accepted the challenge without thinking twice, since she was very sure that he would win the tortoise with his eyes closed. So, both proposed to the fox, that she be the one to point the way and the goal.
Days later, the expected moment of the race arrived, and when the count of three sounded, the race of these two contenders began. The turtle did not stop walking and walking, but at its slow pace, it was moving calmly towards the goal.
Instead the hare ran so fast that he left the tortoise far behind. Turning around and no longer seeing her, the hare saw her success in the race for sure and decided to take a nap.
Shortly after, the hare woke up and saw if the tortoise was still not coming from behind, but when he looked towards the goal, he saw the tortoise very close to the end, and in a desperate attempt to run as fast as he could, the tortoise arrived. and won.
moral: The teaching is that goals are achieved little by little, with work and effort. Although sometimes we seem slow, success will always come.
It also shows us that we don’t have to make fun of people for their physical flaws, as they can be better in other ways.
This fable has great educational value, since doing things well is important in education and for this it is necessary to be patient.
The lion and the Mouse
Once upon a time there was a lion that was resting in the jungle, after a day of hunting. It was a hot day and he just wanted to sleep.
When he was more comfortable, a mouse came making a lot of noise. The lion was so big that he didn’t even notice, but the mouse began to climb up his nose.
The lion woke up in a very bad mood, began to growl, and grabbed the mouse, preparing to eat it.
«Forgive me!» pleaded the poor mouse. «Please let me go and one day I will surely repay you.»
The lion found it amusing to think that a mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally released him.
A few days later, while stalking prey in the forest, the lion got caught in a hunter’s net.
He was unable to free himself and roared loudly for help. The mouse recognized the voice and rushed to help him. He bit one of the ropes that tied the lion and it broke free.
Then the mouse said:
«Even a mouse can help a lion.»
moral: Don’t belittle what others can do. Although it seems otherwise, everyone can help you.
The Ant and the Grasshopper
A cicada sang and enjoyed during the summer. Day after day she woke up late and she only dedicated herself to singing, until one day something caught her attention.
A group of ants were passing under his branch carrying heavy portions of food on his back, then the cicada came down from his branch and asked one.
-Friend ant, why do you work so much?-
-Winter is coming, we must save provisions to be able to pass the frost- answered the ant.
To which the cicada then said:
-Bah! Working so much is for fools, do like me, sing and enjoy the summer.
The little ant without saying anything else continued on its way. In the following days, the grasshopper continued to sing and many times composed songs that made fun of his little friend the ant.
But one day, the cicada woke up and it was no longer summer, winter had arrived.
The frost was the worst of all in many years, he tried to shelter himself with leaves from his branch, but he couldn’t. Hungry she looked for food, but she found nothing.
Then she remembered that her ant friend had been storing supplies during the summer and she went to her anthill, knocked on the door and the ant came out. So he said:
– Ant, help me; I’m hungry and I’m cold, give me shelter and food!
-But what were you doing all summer cicada?- asked the ant.
-Sing and dance- answered the cicada.
-Well, if you did that in the summer, now dance in the winter!- Said the ant and closed the door.
Meanwhile, the repentant cicada walked away reflecting on the lesson it had learned.
Moral: Life consists of work and rest. You can not rest too much because later you can find negative consequences.
Peter and the wolf
Once upon a time there was a boy named Pedro who was a shepherd and spent all day walking with his sheep.
One day he was so bored that he began to wonder how to have fun. Then he came up with a joke, saying that a wolf was nearby. He said:
-The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming! Aid!
The townspeople quickly came with sticks to scare the wolf away, but when they got to the tree where Pedro was sitting, they found him laughing out loud. Peter said:
Ha ha ha! You have believed it!
The neighbors went home thinking it was a joke and that nothing was wrong.
Another day, Pedro was bored again and he came back with the same joke:
-The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming! Help! Help!
The neighbors came back quickly, with their sticks and prepared to face the wolf. But they found Pedro laughing again, who laughed and said:
You have believed it again! How unbelievers! Ha ha ha!
This time the neighbors thought that the joke was not so funny and they went to their houses in a bad mood.
Another day, Pedro was walking with his sheep when he heard a noise in the bushes. He didn’t care, but quickly a wolf came out and started chasing his sheep. Peter began to ask for help:
-The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming! Help!
The neighbors heard it but did not pay attention, since they thought it was another joke of Pedro’s.
The wolf was able to catch some of his sheep and took them away to eat with his pack.
moral: Don’t lie, as others may not believe you when you tell the truth.
The Raven and the Fox
Once upon a time there was a crow that rested in a tree, after having managed to steal a cheese from the window of a house.
Nearby was walking a fox that smelled the strong aroma, saw the crow and said:
-Hello! What a fine day it is, and your plumage is very beautiful. It suits him very well.
The raven felt very good about what the fox said. Wanting to sing in celebration, he opened his mouth, but then he dropped the cheese.
The fox, smiling, ran towards the cheese and caught it in its mouth before falling to the ground.
moral: Pay attention when someone says nice things to you. It may be out of interest.
The boy and the sweets
It was September 21 and all the happy children after a long summer returned to school. Being the first day, the teacher brought a jar full of sweets to class to welcome the new school year. One of the students came out the first running towards the sweets.
Once he took all the sweets he could, when trying to get his hand out, the neck of the container did not allow him to do so. The child cried and cried bitterly, but a friend who was close to him told him: – Be satisfied with taking only half and so you can get your hand out with the sweets.
moral: don’t be selfish, greedy and choose only what you need. As the saying goes «who covers a lot, squeezes little».
This fable teaches children not to be so selfish, a very important quality when it comes to developing their personality. In a world where individuality prevails, it is good from an early age that children learn to share and be generous with their peers.
The flea and the man
A man is enjoying a good sleep when he suddenly started to feel itchy all over his body.
Annoyed by the situation, he searched all over his bed to see what was causing them so much trouble. After his search he found a tiny flea and said the following words to it:
– Who do you think you are, you insignificant bug, to be biting me all over my body and not letting me enjoy my well-deserved rest?
– The flea replied: Excuse me sir, it was not my intention to bother you in any way; I ask you please to let me continue living, since I don’t think I can bother you much because of my small size. The man, laughing at the flea’s occurrences, told him:
– I’m sorry, little flea, but I can’t do anything other than end your life forever, since I have no reason to continue enduring your bites, no matter how big or small the prejudice you cause me may be.
moral: teaches us that anyone who hurts another person must be willing to face the consequences. Since when one annoys, attacks or offends other colleagues, he must know that his actions will be followed by consequences.
The rabbit and the pig
Once upon a time, in a school, there was a very smug rabbit who every day wore his little shoes very clean, shiny, shiny.
In his same class there was also Peny the pig, who was very envious of the rabbit because of his shoes.
But the little pig, living in a mud puddle, knew that he would never get shoes like his rabbit friend’s.
Every day he cleaned and cleaned, but nothing remained as dirty.
One day playing at recess I had to do a race to see who was the fastest. The scared little pig, he did not know what to do, since his shoes were not like his friend’s.
On the day of the race, Peny the pig did not think twice, and ran off together with the rabbit.
While running, he only thought about being the winner and never giving up, just like his mother told him.
Upon reaching the finish line, everyone was amazed by the speed of Peny the pig, they did not understand how he could have beaten the rabbit and his super shoes.
moral: no matter what shoe you wear, the effort to achieve a goal that you set for yourself is not in the shoes but in you. You must be happy with what you have, feel good about yourself and trust yourself.
ant family
