These short adventure stories for children are a great idea to bring the everyone closer while learning values within the family. That’s why HD Hotels has selected 5 beautiful tales for children aged 3 to 5 written by Pedro Pablo Sacristán and first published at FreeStoriesForKids.

It’s important to transmit to the little ones those values that our parents and grandparents taught us a long time ago, but most crucial is the meaning of metaphors and the importance of allowing imagination to travel without limits. Let's go beyond entertainment: stories can be the best partner to prepare children for a bright future.

Short adventure stories for children between 3 and 5 years old

Now that we have to spend time at home, it’s really important that kids aren’t playing all day with video games or watching TV. And a good book is always a good choice. It’s time to strengthen those emotional ties that bind us to the little ones by sharing closer moments with them.

The Magic Tree

This beautiful tale shows us the importance of asking for things. Teaching these values to our children is vital, as they encourage the use of words like ‘thank you’ or ‘please’.

A long, long time ago a little boy was walking through a park. In the middle of the park there was a tree with a sign on it. The sign said "I am a magic tree. Say the magic words and you will see."

The boy tried to guess the magic words. He tried abracadabra, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, tan-ta-ra, and many more... but none of them worked.

Exhausted, he threw himself on the floor, saying: "Please, dear tree!" and suddenly, a big door opened in the trunk. Inside everything was dark, except for a sign which said "Carry on with your magic." Then the boy said "Thank you, dear tree!" With this, the inside of the tree lit up brightly and revealed a pathway leading to a great big pile of toys and chocolate.

The little boy brought all his friends to the magic tree, and they had the best party ever. This is why people always say that "please" and "thank you" are the magic words.

It’s one of the short adventure stories for children that teach them:

• Gratitude
• Education
• Having good manners

The Photographic Elephant

This tale is ideal to show the little ones the importance of fulfilling their dreams or goals. We can talk to them about our dreams when we were little, how we managed to make them come true, or if we haven't done so, it's the perfect time to share it with them.

There was once an elephant who wanted to be a photographer. How his friends would laugh when they heard him talk about it!

- "How silly," said some, "there aren't any cameras for elephants!"
- "What a waste of time," others would say, "there's nothing to photograph here anyway..."

But the elephant kept following his dream, and, piece by piece, he managed to cobble together some old bits of junk and some spare parts, and ended up with a camera of sorts. With this camera, the elephant had to design practically everything himself, from a button he pressed with the end of his trunk, to a lens made to fit an elephant's eye, to a load of wrought iron used to make a frame so the elephant could attach the camera to his head.

When it was all finished, he could finally get to taking his first photos. However, the elephant camera was so enormous and strange-looking that it seemed like some huge ridiculous mask. So many people laughed as he went by that the elephant began to think of abandoning his dream... Even worse, it was beginning to look like those who had said there was nothing to photograph there had been right...

But things worked out differently. The sight of the elephant walking about with the camera on his head was so funny that no one could help but laugh when they saw him. And, using a great deal of good humour, the elephant managed to take some really amusing, incredible pictures of all the animals. In his photos they always looked joyful; even the moody rhino! So the elephant managed to become the official savannah photographer, and animals would come from every direction to have some nice photos taken for their passport to the zoo.

This tale gets to our list of short adventure stories for children because its main lesson is In overcoming adversity can lie the seeds of our success. Thus, they have to:

• Persevere
• Never give up

The Paper Rocket

This story tells us about the importance of the things we have done with our own hands and effort. The boy in the story was initially sorry that he did not have what he wanted, but he preferred to build a rocket and a launch pad by himself.

There was once a boy whose greatest dream was to have a rocket, and launch it to the moon. Unfortunately, he had little money and couldn't afford one. One day, at the side of a path, he found a box for one of his favourite kinds of rocket. Opening it, he found there was only one rocket inside, made of dodgy paper, the consequence of a factory malfunction.

The boy was very disappointed, but at least he now finally had a rocket of sorts. He started preparing his plans for the launch. For many days he collected paper of all shapes, sizes and colours; and with all his soul he set about drawing, painting, cutting, sticking, and colouring all the stars and planets that would turn his rocket into an outer space in paper form.

It wasn't an easy job, but the final result was so magnificent that his bedroom wall looked like an open window onto the galaxy. From then on, the boy enjoyed playing with his paper rocket every day. One day, a friend came to visit, and in the boy's bedroom he saw that spectacular sight. The friend offered to swap it with the boy, for a real rocket he had at home.

The boy went almost mad with joy, and delightedly accepted the swap. Since then, each day, playing with his new rocket, the boy would miss more and more his old paper rocket, with its planets, stars and all the rest. Really, he had much preferred playing with that one. He realised that it was much more fun playing with toys he had made himself, with great effort and enthusiasm.

And so it was, that the boy started building all his toys by himself, and when he grew up he became the greatest toy-maker in the whole world.

It is one of the short adventure stories for children that brings benefits such as knowing what it means:

• Effort
• Perseverance
• Do things ourselves

The Tidy Toys

It is intended that our children see the importance of caring for their toys, that they value them, that they commit themselves to pick them up every time they finish playing and that we, the parents, are not the ones who have to do it.

Once upon a time, a boy moved houses. On entering his new bedroom he saw that it was full of toys, storybooks, pens, pencils... and all of it was perfectly tidy. That day he played all he liked, but went to bed without having tidied up.

Mysteriously, the next morning all the toys had been put back in their proper place. He was sure that no one had entered his bedroom, but the boy didn't pay it much mind. The exact same thing happened that day, and the next, but when the fourth day arrived and he went to get his first toy of the day, the toy jumped out of his hands and said, "I don't want to play with you!"

The boy thought he was seeing things, but the same happened with every toy he touched. Finally, an old teddy bear said to him: "Why are you surprised that we don't want to play with you? You always leave us so far from our proper place, the place we feel most comfortable and happy. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the books to climb back up onto their shelves, or for the pens to jump into their tin? You haven't a clue how uncomfortable and cold the floor is! We won't play with you any more until you promise to leave us in our little houses before you go off to bed."

The boy remembered how comfy and content he felt in his bed, and how bad he felt when he had once slept in a chair. He realised how badly he had treated his friends, the toys. He asked their forgiveness, and from that day he always put his toys nicely in their special places before he got into bed.

As every short adventure stories for children, this tale shows values such as:

• Be organised
• Be careful with toys
• Be responsible

The Penguin and the Kangaroo

In this short story we see how important it is to find that special skill we have. Discovering what we are best at and using it in the best possible way, always with humility.

It also teaches us the importance of not laughing at others and not showing off our achievements in front of them. It is more important to know how to win without humiliating your opponent, than to know how to lose.

There was once a kangaroo who became an athletics champion. However, with this success he became arrogant and nasty, and he spent a lot of time making fun of others. His favourite target was a little penguin whose walk was so slow and clumsy that it often prevented him from even finishing the race.

One day the fox, who organised the races, let everyone know that his favourite for the next race was the poor penguin. Everyone thought it was a joke, but still the big-headed kangaroo got very angry, and he ridiculed the penguin even more than usual. The penguin did not even want to take part in the race, but it was a tradition that everyone must do so. On the day of the race, he approached the starting line in a group which was following the fox. The fox led them up the mountain, while everyone made fun of the penguin, commenting on whether he would roll down the mountain or just slide down on his fat belly.

But when they reached the top they all shut up. The top of the mountain turned out to be a crater that had filled with water, making it into a lake. At this point, the fox gave the starting signal, saying: "First to the other side wins".

The penguin, excited, waddled clumsily to the water's edge. Once he was in the water, though, his speed was unbeatable, and he won the race by a long distance. Meanwhile, the kangaroo barely managed to reach the other side; tearful, humiliated, and half drowned. And although it seemed like the penguin was waiting to make fun of the kangaroo, the penguin had learned a lot from his suffering, and instead of ridiculing the kangaroo, he offered to teach him how to swim.

For the rest of the day the animals enjoyed themselves, playing in the lake. But the one who enjoyed himself the most was the fox, who, with his cleverness, had managed to bring the kangaroo down a peg or two.

This last of our short adventure stories for children has some benefits such as:

• The importance of humility in sport
• Sportsmanship
• Ingenuity
• Knowing how to win

Benefits of short stories for children

Short stories have the main benefit of telling us a lot in a few words. They are able to teach a series of messages that are very important to our children, especially at ages when they are beginning to forge their own personality. Their main benefits are:

• They strengthen the relationship between parents and children
• They stimulate their imagination
• They help to improve concentration
• They teach values
• They expand their vocabulary

Let's take advantage of these moments to enjoy and read those precious and short stories to stimulate their creativity and imagination through these little stories that has so many metaphors.

At HD Hotels we wanted to show this list of short adventure stories for children from 3 to 5 years old to offer one more way of entertainment for the little ones.