Every night before bed, tell your child a short story. Not only will it help them relax, but they will also learn some valuable lessons. Children are naturally drawn to stories and have vivid imaginations, with their little minds filled with all sorts of fairy-tale worlds. Telling them a warm story before bed can help calm their minds and prepare them for sleep.
So, how should we choose bedtime stories that are suitable for children? Below, I will share with you a few short stories that I have written myself. Each one is interesting and educational. You can try reading them and see if you can tell them to your children!
Story 1: The Little Squirrel Who Found a Rainbow Scarf
One day, the rain stopped and a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. The rainbow was very colorful, like a colorful scarf hanging in the sky.
Little Squirrel was picking mushrooms in the forest. He looked up and saw the rainbow. “Wow, it’s so beautiful!” he thought. “If only I had a scarf like that, that would be great.”
Just then, there was a real colorful scarf hanging on a tree branch. Little Squirrel walked over and carefully took down the scarf. He smelled it and said, “Oh, it smells good too! This scarf is so beautiful and fragrant!”
Little Squirrel was a little puzzled. Who could have lost it? Maybe it was dropped by Little Duck by accident?
It took the scarf and went to find the little duck washing clothes by the river. “Little duck, is this scarf yours?”
The little duck looked at it and said, “No, it’s not mine. Go ask the little frog.”
The little squirrel went to find the little frog. “Little frog, did you lose your scarf?”
The little frog shook his head and said, “No, go ask the little crab.”
The little squirrel went to find the little crab: “Little crab, did you lose it?”
The little crab was busy playing and didn’t even look up as he said, “No.”
At that moment, a big truck drove up to the road by the river.The driver, Uncle Hippo, leaned out of the window and said, “This scarf is a gift for the children in the disaster area. The wind was too strong and blew it away. Thank you, Little Squirrel, for finding it.”
Little Squirrel finally understood: this scarf was not an ordinary scarf, but one that the children of Hope Primary School had knitted by hand. No wonder it was so beautiful, like a rainbow.
Story 2: Little White Rabbit Builds a House
There was a little rabbit named Whitey living in the forest. Seeing that winter was coming, he decided to build a warm house for himself to spend the winter.
First, he built a dome-shaped house, which looked quite cute. But just as he was halfway through, Monkey Mom passed by and said, “Why are you building a dome?Our houses all have pointed roofs, which are both beautiful and bright!“
Bai Bai thought that made sense, so it tore down the dome and started building a pointed roof.
Before long, a little bird named Fei Fei flew over and saw Bai Bai’s new house and said, ”You should build a mushroom-shaped house. My house is like that. It’s spacious and beautiful!”
Bai Bai hesitated again and thought, “Maybe she’s right.” So he tore down the pointed roof again and changed it to a mushroom house.
This went on and on. Bai Bai listened to one friend’s advice, then another friend’s advice, tearing down and rebuilding, rebuilding and tearing down.
As a result, winter really came, and White’s house was not yet finished. The north wind blew fiercely, and snowflakes fell one after another. White was so cold that he shivered.
At that moment, he regretted his decision: If he had stuck to his original idea, he would have been living in a warm house by now and wouldn’t have to freeze here.
Story 3: Eating at the Animal Restaurant
On Sunday, Mom took her little baby to a very interesting restaurant to eat.
As soon as they entered, two parrots stood on a perch and greeted them enthusiastically, “Welcome! Welcome!”
Then, a golden monkey dressed in a suit came forward, helped Mom hang up her coat, and put the baby’s hat away.
After they sat down, a small dog came over with the menu and asked Mom to order. Mom ordered a few dishes, and the dog ran into the kitchen with the menu.
The little baby asked Mom curiously, “Are the chefs here animals too?”
Mom smiled and said, “Except for the chefs and cashiers, all the other staff are trained animals. Look, the food is already here.”
Sure enough, two long-haired monkeys steadily carried the steaming hot dishes to the table.
After finishing their meal, the golden monkey handed the coat and hat back to the mother, and the parrot said at the door, “Welcome back next time!”
The little baby said happily, “It was so much fun eating at the ‘Animal Restaurant’ today!”
Story 4: The Big Mouse Who Stole Bread
The baker made a large batch of fragrant bread. As soon as it came out of the oven, the aroma wafted out the window.
Two big mice smelled the aroma, sneaked into the bakery, and stole a loaf of bread while the baker wasn’t looking.
The baker noticed that a loaf was missing and wondered, “Who took it?”
He thought for a moment, made a little bread soldier, gave it a bread gun, and had it guard the bread.
That night, the two big rats came back. They saw the bread soldier and weren’t afraid at all. They laughed and said, “Ha, it’s just a bread man. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Just as they were about to carry the bread away, they suddenly heard two loud bangs. It was the bread soldier firing his gun!
The bullets hit their butts, and they ran home in pain.
When they got home, they touched their butts and felt something sticky. They thought they were bleeding and cried out in fear, “Oh no, we’re bleeding!”
Upon closer inspection, they realized the bullets were made of candy, sticky and sweet. They were overjoyed and ate all the candy.
But soon, they started crying out in pain: “Oh no, my teeth hurt!”
Early the next morning, they ran to the dentist. The dentist examined them and said, “You ate super-sweet candy, which rotted your teeth. They all have to be pulled out!”
The two mice couldn’t stand the pain, so they obediently had all their teeth pulled out one by one.
From then on, they never dared to steal bread again.
Story 5: The North Wind Plays Hide and Seek
Winter was coming, and the north wind came to the forest and saw the little birds, rabbits, squirrels, and frogs playing hide and seek.
The north wind said loudly, “I want to play too! I can help find people, I’m really good at it!”
The little animals said, “Okay, but if you lose, you have to give us a present!”
The north wind agreed.
The game began. The little animals all hid, and the north wind took a deep breath and blew out with a “whoosh!” The leaves fell, and the birds’ nests were blown away, revealing the little animals.
The north wind continued to blow, and pinecones fell from the trees. The little squirrel heard the sound and couldn’t help but peek out, only to be spotted by the north wind.
The north wind was very happy and continued to blow hard, shaking the trees and sending leaves flying, but the wild rabbit and the frog still didn’t show up.
The north wind was not satisfied, so it flew high into the sky and blew a large cloud of snow. In no time, it began to snow.
When the snow stopped, the ground was covered in white. The wild rabbit came out to look for food and was quickly found by the north wind.
Only the frog was missing. The north wind searched for a long time but couldn’t find it.
Spring came, and the frog finally emerged from underground, stretched, and said, “Gua, I slept so well!”
It turned out that it had been sleeping in its burrow all winter without eating or drinking, so how could the north wind find it?
As soon as the frog came out, it sang, “Croak, croak, how wonderful!”
The north wind kept its word and really gave everyone a gift—a warm spring.
These stories are simple, but they all have their own little lessons. For example, the first story tells us that sometimes what we think is a coincidence actually has a reason behind it.The second story reminds us not to change our minds just because others say so, but to learn to stick to our own judgments; The third story helps children feel the diversity and fun of the world; The fourth story teaches us that greed can lead to trouble; The fifth story demonstrates the laws of nature.
I hope these stories will accompany children into sweet dreams and help them learn some life lessons while listening to them.
