Category: Fun Stories for Little Ones

Paddy starts school with a cold potato in his pocket. A story for school starters of 5 years old

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Paddy starts school with a cold potato in his pocket

Well hello, you can call me Paddy. I hear you are starting school soon. That will be grand. Things were different in my day. We had to walk to school, or if we were very lucky my dad would put us on the horse. Two kids up on the saddle and two walking, we would take it in turns to ride. I expect you will get taken to school by your mammy, or you may catch a school bus.

On my first day my mam gave me a cold potato for my pocket. That was to be my dinner, but I didn’t really understand that. When it came to dinner time I had nothing to eat as I ate my potato at playtime. Oh dear! I was hungry. I sat on the floor and hid my face. A kind lady spoke to me.

‘Where is your tatty? she asked. ‘Did you eat it before?’

I nodded my head.

‘Awww, never mind. Here I’ve got one for you. You are not the only one you know.’

She sat me down at a table with several other new wee ones. She passed round a bowl with warm potatoes in it. Soon we were all smiling again.

‘ I’ll tell your mammy and your teacher,’ said the kind lady, ‘then you will know when to eat your dinner.’

I had a great day, I was happy at school. They had lots of crayons and games and books to look at. We played games in the playground and I soon got to know the names of the other children in my class.

When I got home I told my mam about the potato. She smiled and said how kind the lady was to give us all another one. She told me that next time I could just bite off the end of my tatty if I was hungry at playtime and I must wait until dinner time to eat the rest of it. She said the nice lady would not have potatoes to give away every day and I had to learn to wait for dinner time to eat mine.

Questions:

Who was the story about?

What was Paddy given for dinner by his mam?

Why did Paddy hide his face at dinner time?

Was he the only one with no dinner?

What did the kind lady give to the children who didn’t have a tatty for their dinner?

What did Paddy need to remember about his potato the next day?

What nice things did Paddy do on his first day at school?

‘Poochie’ A dog story about keeping calm and not panicking, for children of 5-6 years old. 337 words, 2 -3 minutes to read

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Subject Resilience

Poochie

poochie002

You know, being a dog is very interesting. Everything smells so different. You have to keep sniffing to see what’s been happening. You can tell a lot from sniffing.

My human, she is called Katie, she can’t tell much from sniffing. In fact the only time I see her sniffing is when she’s sniffing me! She cuddles me and sniffs my head. I hear her telling her mum that I smell nice – sort of warm and fluffy.

‘Are you dog sniffing again?’

‘Yes, I like sniffing Poochie!’

Poochie, that’s what they call me! My real name is Puccini!  I am quite small for a dog. I can fit onto Katie’s lap and fall asleep and she just sits there stroking me.

One day I saw a hole in the garden fence. I sniffed at it and smelt something different. I just had to squeeze through and look around . Katie saw me go. She screamed and shouted to her mother. What a terrible noise she made! I hid behind a bucket. I didn’t want to be with her if she was screaming.

‘Poochie won’t come back if you go on making all that noise. Now dry your tears and get a treat from Poochie’s tin. He’ll soon smell it and come back.’

Well, Katie must have done what her mother told her, because the next thing I knew I could smell my special treat from Katie’s side of the fence. And there was Katie peeping through the hole and calling gently ‘Come on Puccini, come and get your treat.’

poochie002

Poochie peeps through the hole in the fence, looking for treats.

So I followed my nose, didn’t I? Katie’s mum quickly blocked the hole in the fence behind me and there I was being stroked and eating my treats! Then Katie’s mum was stroking Katie’s head and saying, ‘There you see, it’s much better not to panic and scream and cry. Everyone feels better if they keep calm and get help.’

Questions 

What was the little dog’s name in the story?

How do dogs get to know what’s been happening around them?

What did Poochie mean when he says that Katie was his human?

What did Katy like to do Poochie when he was on her lap?

How did Poochie’s nose get him into trouble?

What did Katie do when Poochie disappeared through the fence?

What did Poochie do when he heard her screaming and crying?

What did Katie’s mum say when Katy was screaming and crying? 

How did Poochie’s nose sort out the problem? (Why did he come back through the hole?)

Does this story remind you of anything in your life?

Sometimes it is good to cry and shout and let your feelings out.  Then when you have done it, you can stop and tell people who love you about your problem, and then you feel a bit better about it.  In this story Katie’s mum came quickly to help, and that was when Katie needed to stop screaming and crying, so she did!

 

 

 

 

 

Bozo talks about throwing balls indoors. A story for little kids

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Bozo practises his circus tricks

‘Hello I’m Bozo, I’m a Clown. You may have seen my happy face somewhere? I like to teach little kids things. I try to make it fun to learn. Can you catch a ball yet? I can. I can throw six balls up in the air all at once. Mind you it took me a few years to learn that. I just had to keep practicing. When I was good at catching one ball, I went on to catching two, then three and so on. I practice a lot. I used to try throwing a ball up over my head, and catching it again. Best to do that outside so you don’t knock the pictures off the walls .

Bozo pic 2007

 

One day I forgot and I threw my ball under my leg and up towards the ceiling. It hit the light and poof! all the lights went out. Oh dear!’

‘Stand still everyone, there is broken glass about!’, said Dad. He lit his torch and Mum swept up the mess.

‘What do we say about throwing the ball indoors?’ said Mum.

‘I must look where I throw it and throw it small, small throws, not like that. Oops sorry!’

‘Okay, now what else do you want to do? That ball’s going away for a while,’ said Dad.

‘Okay I’ll practice juggling my plates now…’

‘No, no throwing, no juggling, even if they are plastic plates. What else do you have to practice?’ said Dad.

‘How about my tin whistle?’

‘Now that’s a good idea, just  make sure you’re not annoying anyone with it.’

That was the trouble! Everyone hated hearing me playing the tin whistle!

‘Tell you what,’ said my sister, I will practice reading you a story instead, how about that?’  Well, I didn’t think she needed to practise reading, I thought she was good at it already, but I didn’t say ‘No’!

‘Okay, thanks. Then I’ll do some somersaults in the hall. ‘

Mum said I just had too much energy, and that it was a pity was raining.

‘Never mind we will all go out later with our wellies on, and you can splash in the puddles…’ she said.

Questions

When Bozo was a little boy he liked to practise doing things. Can you say what he practised?

What did he want to be when he grew up?

What rules did Bozo’s mum and dad have about playing with balls indoors?

What rules do you have about playing with balls?

What might happen if you just threw balls around indoors?

What happened when Bozo threw the ball at the ceiling?

Does this story remind you about anything that has happened to you or your family?

 

‘Washing hands every day and when to do it’ A poem for little kids from Dr McPuffin

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Dr McPuffin

Dr McPuffin

Dr Mc Puffin teaches little kids about when to wash their hands.

Dr. Mc Puffin was puzzled. He scratched his head with his foot. He is a bird, and that’s what they do. He was wondering how you should help children to learn about handwashing. It seemed to him that some children don’t really know when to wash their hands. They might wash them too much, or they might wash them too little.

‘I know I’ll make up a poem,’ he said.

It’s called ‘Washing hands every day and when to do it.’

If you make mud pies

wash your hands.

If you go to the loo

and you do a pee or poo,

then you know just what to do,

wash your hands!

 

If you want to eat some food

washing hands is good,

before you eat and after, if you’re sticky,

greasy, crummy,

just have a word with Mummy,

and you do know what she’ll say,

‘Wash your hands!’

 

If you think that they are dirty ‘cos you

stroked your dog called Bertie,

and he dribbled on your shirty,

or you have been touching slimy grimy,

or had your finger up your nose,

don’t wipe it on your clothes!

Wash your hands.

 

But if you wash them just for fun,

and let the water run and run,

then I might just to tell your mum

and she’ll say ‘Wasting soap and water

isn’t something that you ought to do.

So stop it!

Dr McPuffin

Dr McPuffin

Do you think Dr McPuffin remembered all the times when we need to wash our hands? Can you think of any other times that you need to wash your hands?

Mummy goes to hospital and Chloe is upset. A helpful short story for little children

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A Story for Chloe

 One day Chloe’s mummy had to go to hospital to get her sore leg fixed. Chloe was upset when Mummy waved goodbye.

Chloe’s daddy said, ‘Don’t worry, Dr McPuffin will look after Mummy.’

‘Who is Dr McPuffin?’ Chloe asked.

‘He is one of the best doctors in the world. He works at hospital where Mummy will be. He’s very good at making people better.’

Daddy showed Chloe a picture of Dr. McPuffin.

Puffin water colour004

 

‘Oh, I didn’t think doctors looked like that. He’s a bird isn’t he?’

‘Yes he’s a very special bird who makes people laugh and feel happy. The nurses giggle when he comes in!’

‘He flies in and sits on the windowsill and does a happy dance – up and down and round and round he goes. He always wears a stethoscope around his neck like all doctors do.’

‘He carries a copy of the newspaper under his wing and tells the patients something funny about the news that day.’

‘When he sees that everyone in the room is happy and smiling, off he goes.’

‘Goodbye Dr McPuffin, and thank you!’ they all say.

‘Why does he come into hospital and do that?’ asked Chloe.

‘People get better soon if they are happy and smiling ,’ said Daddy. ‘Shall we think of something we can do for Mummy when she comes home tomorrow?’

‘I could thread some of those pretty beads for her couldn’t I?’ said Chloe.

‘And I’ll get her some nice flowers,’ said Daddy.

Chloe clapped her hands.’ Oh yes,  Mummy loves flowers. We will make her smile won’t we Daddy? And we’ll be helpful so she gets better soon.’

Questions

Who was going to hospital?

Why was Chloe upset?

Daddy told Chloe about Dr McPuffin – what was he? 

What did Dr McPuffin do to make everyone happy?

Have you ever seen a Puffin on TV? Where do they live?

What did Chloe say she could do to make Mummy smile?

What did Daddy say he would do?

Who would be very helpful at home when Mummy came back from hospital?

Does this story remind you of anything in your life?

The Animal on the Mountain – story for little kids about not keeping wild animals as pets

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                                                            The Animal On The Mountain.

Mary and Donald, Tommy’s Granny and Granddad, went to France to see the mountains, which were like huge, tall pointed hills with snow on top. They looked very rocky and difficult to climb. Mary decided she would not try to climb the mountains. She would just walk around the bottom of them where there were lovely flowers called alpine plants.

As Mary and Donald got ready to go on a mountain walk they put bottles of water and some biscuits in their rucksacks. They carried raincoats and wore sun hats. You can never tell what the weather is going to do in the mountains. It can be quite cold or very hot. Sometimes there are thunderstorms and very heavy rain. Mary wanted to be ready for anything. They decided they would try to go and see a glacier, which is a frozen river of ice. When you go on a mountain walk you zig-zag up the sides of the mountain so that it doesn’t feel too steep to climb. Mary had her two walking poles with her to help her go uphill more easily.

She was getting a bit puffed so she sat on a rock to have a rest. Then she thought she saw something moving along between the rocks. It was difficult to see. It was brown and furry. It disappeared. Mary whispered to Donald ‘Look over there! A creature is coming this way! Shush, don’t frighten it!’

A Marmot

 

It was bigger than a rabbit and a smaller than a badger. It had little short legs and it moved a bit like a rabbit or perhaps a cat. It did not hop. Every few steps it flipped its wiggly tail, which was longer than a rabbit’s ‘powder puff’ tail. It had little short rounded ears.

Donald said, ‘It can’t be a rabbit because it hasn’t got long ears.’

Then Mary got excited. ‘I know, it’s a marmot! My nephew Antony had a toy one to cuddle when he was young. It was his favourite toy! Oh Donald, I’d love to take a marmot home for Tommy! It looks so sweet! Tommy could feed it and keep it in a cage in the garden.’

‘I don’t think it would be happy in a box,’ said Donald.

‘We could make a big run for him then. Oh I do want a marmot for Tommy! I’m going to try to catch one!’ said Mary and she went scrambling over the rocks towards the marmot. It sat and watched her struggling with her sticks, then just before she got too close, it popped down a hole in the ground. Mary tried again and again to catch a marmot, but it was too difficult. Mary was determined to bring a marmot home for Tommy.

‘I will just have to buy one in a French pet shop,’ she told Donald.

The pet shop man smiled a sad smile, ‘Very sorry madam,’ he said, ‘we do not sell marmots here. Nobody sells them. They belong in the mountains. That’s their proper home. They don’t like to be kept in a cage. They like to be out on the mountain eating the alpine plants.’ Mary was sad. She told the pet shop man about Tommy and how much he might love one, just like Antony did.

‘Why don’t you buy Tommy a nice furry toy marmot? He can play with it and stroke it and talk to it and he will not need to feed it. And his marmot will not be unhappy like a real one would be.’ said the pet shop man.

Mary smiled a big smile ‘Ah yes, now that is a good idea! I’ll get a toy marmot!’ So she did and it’s on its way to Tommy right now on the boat to Ireland.

Questions:

What sort of animal did Mary see living in the mountains?

How big was it? Did it look cuddly or fierce?

What did Mary want to do to the marmot?

Why could she not catch one?

Would it be a good idea to keep a marmot as a pet? Why not?

What sort of food do marmots eat?

What did the pet shop man tell Mary to do for Tommy, instead of bringing a real live marmot home?

 

A day in the life of Sydney the cat ( About chocolate poisoning) Story for little kids and families with cats and dogs

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A Day in the Life of Sydney the Cat

Sydney the Cat pic 

When we go out in the morning our cat always comes to the car. He winds round my legs and rubs his back on my knees.

Mum says ‘Off you go now Sydney, I don’t want to run over you.’

He walks slowly towards the back door, looking over his shoulder to see if we’re watching. I always like to see him pop back into the house through the cat flap. Then I know that the house is safe with him indoors.

Mum says ‘Good, Sydney is safe inside. Off we go.’

But I know he’s keeping the house safe. If any mice came in to steal the cheese we left out by mistake, he would catch them, I know he would. Or if a fly was playing on the window, leaving its dirty footprints everywhere, he would get it.

Mum doesn’t like it when Sydney eats flies .

‘Yuk,’ she says. ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Sydney. You don’t even look as if you like the taste!’

We know what Sydney does when we are away. He goes into every room and inspects it for flies, which he catches, and for bits of chocolate which he eats. We are a bit untidy sometimes, and we leave half eaten chocolates in their wrappers on my bed. Well, I do sometimes, if I don’t really like the chocolate. I leave them for someone else to finish and it’s usually Sydney. Mum says they aren’t good for his teeth, but I keep forgetting that and I don’t want to put them in the bin.Sydney the Cat pic

One day we were in a hurry to get away in the morning . Off we rushed and when we came back, we found the chocolate spread jar open and on the floor. There was a row of chocolate footprints on the table and on the floor in the kitchen.

‘Who didn’t put the chocolate spread away?’ said Mum.

Sydney was lying in his basket. He didn’t bother to come and say hello.

‘I don’t think he’s feeling very well,’ said Mum. ‘I think he may have got chocolate poisoning.’ I looked at Mum to see if she was joking ‘cos I never get chocolate poisoning.

‘Cats are different,’ said Mum. ‘I don’t think chocolate is good for them. I’ll phone the vet and ask.’ The vet said we had to keep an eye on Sydney and make sure we never give him chocolate again. I was very careful after that. If I ate a chocolate I didn’t like I put it down a special hole in the garden for the little creatures to eat. Mum said we have a chocolate mine in the garden now.

Questions

How old do you think the child in the story is?

What does she do with her half eaten chocolates?

Why is this a very bad idea?

What happened to Sydney while they were all out?

What did the vet say about chocolate poisoning?

Do you know that dogs get chocolate poisoning too?

 

This is story is to teach about a real serious problem. Please learn from it. Keep your pet safe.

What are the symptoms of chocolate poisoning in cats?  reference:  cat-world.com.au

Symptoms vary on the age of the cat (kittens are more susceptible than adults), and the quantity consumed. If enough is ingested, death can occur. Clinical effects can occur within four hours of ingestion, but may take as long as 72 hours. The first signs of theobromine poisoning can include:

  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • HyperactivityAbdominal tenderness
  • Restlessness
  • Frequent urination and or urinary incontinence

These can progress to more severe symptoms including:

  • Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
  • Muscle tremors
  • Ataxia (lack of muscular coordination)
  • Seizures
  • Coma
  • Death

 

 

 

The Story of YY the Bear, a fun story for little Kids about Goals

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The story of YY the Bear.   It deals with the subject of goals – or aims, something recently added to the syllabus for young children.

YY was made in a bear factory in Oregon in America.They made small bears, large bears and many in between sized bears, YY was one of the largest, he was as big as a small child. Uncle Humphrey and Aunt Saskia fell in love with him almost as soon as they saw him. He seemed to follow them around the shop with his eyes saying : ‘Take me to your niece in the UK.’

‘I just love this one,’ said Aunt Saskia, ‘he’s really got soul.’

The shop assistant smiled back. ‘All are bears have something about them, but we aren’t allowed to say they’ve got ‘soul’, as it upsets some people, but what we do is we give each bear a ‘goal’, not a soul, but a goal, you see? Look, it’s tied round his neck. This bear’s goal is to ‘Make a child happy every day’.

Aunt Saskia put on her glasses and peered at the label. ‘Ah, so it is. I like that. Come and see this one Humphrey!’

Obedient to his wife, Humphrey crossed the store, holding a small brown bear with a label tied round its neck. Saskia told him about YY and the ‘goal’.

‘Say, that’s real nice, but I like this one too and it would fit in a suitcase,’ said Humphrey.  Saskia’s brow ruffled. ‘Yes, it is kind of cute, but Rosie might already have a bear that size. It’s rather ordinary and what’s its ‘goal’? Let’s have a look.

 

‘To be a very good bear,’ Aunt Saskia read out. ‘Oh no, that’s really boring. Oh, no, we can’t have a bear who just wants to be good and nothing else. You’ve got to put out to others in this life. You’ve got to make an effort!

‘But it’s only a bear,’ said Uncle Humphrey, ‘and it is rather large. They might not let it come on the ship! It takes up the space of a real person!’

‘Just to let them try and stop him coming!’ said Saskia, determined. ‘I want Rosie to get a present from us that she will never forget. This bear fills the bill.’

Uncle Humphrey did his famous shoulder lift and big sigh. ‘Humph’, he said, nothing more. Aunt Saskia got out her cheque-book and paid for the bear.

On the ship the bear sat next to Aunt Saskia. Children were forever coming over to stroke him, or even to hug him.

‘What’s his name?’ they would ask.

‘Oh, he doesn’t have a name yet,’ she would reply.

‘Why?’ each child would say.

Aunt Saskia would explain all about her niece Rosie. Every child who came along wanted to know the bear’s name. Uncle Humphrey began to humph.

‘Why? Why? Why do children always ask ‘Why’, why?

Aunt Saskia sat up straight, as the idea hit her between the eyes.

‘I know we’ll just call him YY, until Rosie gets him then she can decide on his name!’

Uncle Humph humphed once more, but it was a smiling humph, not a bothered humph.

YY made many children happy on the journey over to England and that made Aunt Saskia happy as she loved children, but had none of her own.

When Rosie saw YY, she gave him a great big hug and asked what his name was. Aunt Saskia had planned what she was going to say, so that Rosie could choose a name for him, but Uncle Humphrey being a little absent-minded just said ‘He’s called YY and everyone loves him.’ and he made a sort of apologetic but happy humph, towards Aunt Saskia, and that was that.

He is YY and he makes children happy (and quite a lot of big people too!).

‘What are step mothers really like?’ a story to help children 4-9 years

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What are step-mothers really like?

Mary was a girl of five years old.  She had never known her real mother.  She was brought up by her daddy and her grandmother whom she called Nanny.

Mary loved her Nanny and her dad very much.  She didn’t know her dad was lonely and needed to have a wife.  Nanny used to read bedtime stories to Mary.  She especially liked Snow White and Cinderella.  She used to pretend she was Snow White sometimes.  She would take a bite of a red apple and then fall on the ground and pretend to be asleep, waiting for a prince to wake her up with a kiss.  She used to call her dad to come and give her a kiss, which sometimes he would do, and then she would be happy ever after.  But sometimes Daddy was too busy and she had to wait until the dog saw her lying on the floor.  He would always give her a kiss, even though he wasn’t supposed to lick her!  She would wipe her face and then give the dog a big hug.

‘Thank you Rufty Tufty!’ she would say, ‘Now I can be happy ever after and we can live in this beautiful castle.’

One day daddy brought a pretty lady home.  She brought a present for Mary.  Daddy said he was going to marry this lady called Sue.  He said that Mary needed a mother and he needed a wife.  She would be Mary’s step-mother.  Now the only time Mary had heard about step- mothers was when Nanny read her the fairy stories about Snow White and Cinderella.  Mary became worried.  She thought that Step-Mother was the same as Wicked Step-Mother.

Mary got quite upset.  She hid behind the sofa.  She didn’t want to have a wicked Step-Mother.  Nanny asked Mary what was the matter.

‘I don’t want to have a wicked Step-Mother’ said Mary in a sad voice.

‘Oh, I see what the problem is,’ said Nanny. ‘Now let me explain about step-mothers.’

Nanny went on to tell Mary that you can only ever have one real mother and she is the person who gave birth to you.  You grew inside her tummy and when you were ready, out you popped, all new and slippery.

‘Sometimes people’s real mothers go away because something happens.  Some children never meet their real mothers.  Then along comes a nice lady who wants to help their daddy to look after them and they are called step-mothers.  Most people’s step-mothers are very nice people, who love the daddy and the children.’

‘Well, I think Sue is nice, but I was a bit worried,’ said Mary, ‘I thought all step mothers were nasty.’

‘Ah, I see how you could make that mistake, Mary, because that’s what your story seems to say.  But no, step-mothers can be very kind, good people, and usually are.  I’m sure we will be very happy to have Sue in our family.’

And do you know what?  They were all very happy and lived happily ever after.

 

 

How many nice step-mums can you see?

 

 

Short Story about ‘Fairness’ for children 5-8years. Snuggles the guinea pig

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BETH’S GUINEA PIG

Snuggles was brown and white. Beth loved him a lot. When she held him on her chest, he always tried to snuggle under her arm – that’s how he got his name.

Beth loves to cuddle Snuggles

Beth had a baby brother called Zac who used to cry a lot and who needed to be fed many times in a day. Beth got cross when she heard him crying and she wished he would keep quiet.

One day she asked her Mum why she didn’t just put a feeding tube in Zac’s mouth and tie Zac and the bottle to her chest. Then she could carry Zac around all day while she worked and he could suck on the tube anytime he wanted to. Then he wouldn’t keep crying all the time.

“Oh no, I couldn’t do that,” said Beth’s Mum. “That wouldn’t be fair on me, I’d get too tired, carrying Zac around all day long. And it wouldn’t be fair on Zac because he couldn’t sleep if I were playing with you, or doing the washing up. You might like it, I suppose, because you wouldn’t have to listen to him crying several times a day. But it wouldn’t be fair on us.”

“I don’t care,” said Beth.

“I see. All right then, think about this.  I don’t like cleaning Snuggles cage, so we’ll get rid of his cage and you can carry him around all day, under your arm. Have him all day long, even when you go out to play, and when you are having your tea as well, then I’ll think about carrying Zac around all day.”

Beth frowned. “No, I don’t think so, Mum. He might get dropped, or he might pee on my jumper. Or I might lose him outside. I couldn’t go on the swings with him under my arm, could I? It wouldn’t be fair if you took his cage away. It wouldn’t be fair on Snuggles, or me. You won’t, will you?”

“Ah ha! So now do you think it would be fair if I carried Zac around all day and fed him through a tube?”

“No Mum,” said Beth giggling. “It wouldn’t be fair!”

Questions:

Did the story remind you about things being fair or not in your life?

When you play with your friends do you try to make it fair for everyone if you can?

How could you do that?

Do you think life should be fair all the time? Is it?

When you think something is unfair and there is nothing to be done about it, what is the best way to look at it?

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