StoriesFunny stories for children
Stories to giggle at: a goat with a taste for homework, a rooster who goes on strike and a parrot who cannot keep a secret. Each one still carries a small lesson under the laughter, and they are fun to read aloud with different voices.
- The Goat Who Ate the HomeworkBittu did not like homework. Luckily, Bittu had a goat. Her name was Laali, and she was very useful.Funny stories · Ages 6 to 10 · 2 min
- The Day the Rooster OversleptIn the village of Sonpur lived a rooster named Sardar. Every morning at five he flew up to the roof of the milk shed and crowed: "KUKDOO-KOOO!"Funny stories · Ages 5 to 9 · 2 min
- The Parrot Who Said Too MuchMitthu the parrot lived in the Sharma family's verandah, and he could repeat anything. He could do the pressure cooker. He could do the doorbell so well that...Funny stories · Ages 5 to 9 · 2 min
- The Umbrella That Hated RainIn the corner of a cupboard in Dadi's house lived a brand-new umbrella. It was bright yellow with a curved wooden handle, and it had one great fear in life. It...Funny stories · Ages 5 to 9 · 3 min
Why funny stories matter
Laughter is not a break from learning to read and listen; it is one of the best reasons to do both. A child who has laughed at a story will ask for it again, will try to read it alone, and will retell it to anyone who will listen. Funny stories also teach a quiet lesson of their own: that mistakes are survivable. The goat eats the homework, the rooster oversleeps, the umbrella is afraid of rain, and everything still turns out well.
How to read them aloud
- Be willing to look silly. Do the voices. Squawk like the parrot. Children laugh hardest when a grown-up is plainly enjoying it too.
- Slow down before the funny line, and pause after it. Laughter needs a little room.
- Let the child guess what goes wrong next. Being right is delightful, and being wrong is funnier.
- Read it again tomorrow. Children laugh more the second time, because they know what is coming.
Kind laughter
In every story here, the reader laughs with a character and at a situation, never at someone for being small, slow or different. That is worth pointing out to an older child, gently, because it marks the line between a joke and teasing. Each story also carries a small lesson underneath, and the three questions at the end bring it out without spoiling the fun. For more to laugh at, try the clean animal jokes for kids.