Three Awesome Short Legends For Kids

In this article, we share three short legends for children. They are a great opportunity to talk to your child about the important values ​​of life.

Legends are usually a great source of information that we can use to our advantage to teach certain values ​​to our children. Short legends for kids are a great tool to help kids dream. When reading them, children can imagine themselves as protagonists in their own stories. We can leverage these stories to raise our children to be better people: more responsible, more independent, and more understanding.

Throughout history, oral legends have traditionally passed from parents to children. Incredibly, these stories don’t usually change much as they pass from one generation to the next. Some have, of course, been adapted to modern times and some have been softened; a good example of this are the many film adaptations of Disney stories. Some stories have instead been completely changed.

However, most of them have retained most of the cultural elements and teachings, which are thus intended to teach children values ​​and ideals.

Top 3 Short Legends for Kids

Legends should not be confused with myths or fables. In general, legends are stories that have arisen from presumed true events in history. At the same time, however, they are often mixed with fantasy, imagination, and supernatural elements.

In the fables, the protagonists often have animal characters. The purpose of such animal tales is usually to provide some form of moral instruction. A good example of this is the fables of Aesop.

Legend, on the other hand, may contain elements of animal tales or myths, and they also have supernatural features. Usually they tell of real events, but over the years, these truths are distorted as they are passed down from generation to generation.

The best way to explain what legends are is to give examples of them. That’s why we now share three well-known short legends for kids.

Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman is a major legend. It dates back to the 17th century and tells the story of Captain Hendrik Van der Decken. His ship was on its way to India when the storm suddenly surprised. The crew managed to get through the storm thanks to a determined sailor who, according to legend, dared to defy God’s authority.

For this reason, God condemned him to wander aimlessly with His ship in the oceans of the world. Since then, people have considered the appearance of that ghost ship with its tortured souls to be a very bad omen.

If one forgets possible religious interpretations of the legend, it is used to teach children to respect authorities. The idea here is that children should be their own selves, with their own personalities and their own views, but at the same time they should respect parents, carers, teachers, mentors, schoolmates and other people.

Cramps

Legends usually have a certain kind of creepy and macabre atmosphere. Some of them can be downright scary. This is especially true of the Krampus legend. Krampus is a popular European character who is half a buck and half a devil. It has huge horns and a hairy body.

Krampus is a character who, according to legend, appears every Christmas to punish ill-behaved children. The origin of the character apparently dates back to before Christianity. It must be remembered that in the old days, it was common to teach children by exploiting threatening characters such as Krampus and monsters.

However, the Krampus legend can be softened by utilizing, for example, Santa Claus, St. Nicholas or the sages of the East. What these characters have in common is that they reward children for good behavior.

Robin Hood

This last legend deals with justice and equality. This medieval English-born character, Robin Hood, is arguably one of the most beautiful and interesting legends for children. Over the years, the story has been made into dozens of arrangements for films as well as books and comics.

Based on real-life adventures like Ghino di Tacco, Robin Hood was the prince of thieves. He was an unpopular nobleman who chose to exercise his right of self-looting to plunder the rich and to give to the poor. One of his favorite victims was Juhana Maaton, who owned the English throne in the absence of his brother Richard the Lionheart.

Robin Hood became popular in the 15th century, but historical events took place around the 13th century. Be that as it may, the story can be used as a good example of justice and the fight against tyranny. It teaches us what it means to put our own selfish interests aside and help the most deprived.

All three short legends for children, adapted to modern times, are excellent examples that we can use to teach children or just to make them happy.