The Thirsty Crow, a popular Aesop’s fable, is one of the most popular moral stories for children. In this NutSpace version, kids not only enjoy the timeless folktale but also practice phonics (Level 1) through an engaging read-along. With simple sentences, highlighted text, and interactive activities, this story builds early reading confidence while teaching an important life lesson.
On a hot summer afternoon, the crow was tired after taking a long flight. It was thirsty and was looking for some water. The crow came across a pitcher, but the water in the pitcher was so low that the crow could not reach it. The crow had to think of something to access the water. This story is about the crow’s ability to remain calm, think and come up with a solution to quench its thirst.
Read-Along Story: The Thirsty Crow (Level 1 Phonics Practice)
Watch The Thirsty Crow Story (Video)
Prefer watching instead of reading? Watch Rohini bring The Thirsty Crow to life in this storytelling video. Perfect for kids to listen, enjoy, and learn along!
Moral of The Thirsty Crow Story
The Thirsty Crow teaches children that where there is a will, there is a way.
Through this story, kids learn:
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Perseverance – don’t give up easily.
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Problem-solving – think of creative solutions.
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Patience – success comes step by step.
Why Kids Should Read The Thirsty Crow
The Thirsty Crow is more than just a classic folktale — it’s a Level 1 phonics read-along designed to help children build early literacy skills while enjoying a timeless story.
Here’s why it’s a perfect choice for beginners:
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Phonics Practice – Simple, repetitive words help children sound out letters and blend sounds confidently.
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Reading Confidence – Short sentences make it easier for early readers to follow along without feeling overwhelmed.
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Life Skills Learning – Through the crow’s clever solution, kids learn problem-solving, perseverance, and patience.
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Engaging Read-Along – Listening and following the highlighted text improves focus, comprehension, and listening skills.
By combining a much-loved moral tale with phonics support, this story gives children both reading practice and valuable life lessons.
Lesson Plan Overview for The Thirsty Crow
The protagonist of the story, the crow, was quite clever. In fact, he was a critical thinker and problem solver.
So many times we too are stuck in difficult situations. What do we do? Do we give up or do we look for solutions? What would you do if you were in the crow’s place? Do you have a better solution? Please share your ideas in the comments below.
💡 Did you know?
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Bird watching, or birding, means going outside to enjoy watching birds — it’s a popular hobby.
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Someone who does this may be called a bird watcher, but more often a twitcher or birder.
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People who study birds as a profession are called ornithologists.
Learn this and much more in our Stories and Life Skills Development program.
👉 Access a detailed lesson plan that has fun discussions, experiments, games, and much more.
👉 Build life skills with lesson plans created by experts.
Free Worksheet Download
✨ Practice what you’ve read! Download a free worksheet based on The Thirsty Crow. It includes simple phonics exercises and a fun activity.
Read the Full Story: The Thirst Crow and The Pitcher
On a hot summer afternoon a crow who was flying about looking for water. The crow had been flying since morning and was now tired and thirsty. It looked everywhere for water, but couldn’t find any.
Exhausted, the crow went and perched itself on the branch of a tree. And while it sat there the crow began to feel a little dizzy. With its head spinning, he thought he had started hallucinating. But then, it did see something.
‘Caw,Caw,Caw.’ It cawed in wonderment.
It was a pitcher. The crow peered and saw its own reflection. Ah, finally the crow had found some water. The crow got really excited.
‘Caw,Caw.’ It called happily and then swooped down to have some water. The moment the crow reached down, it sat next to the pitcher and put its beak inside to reach for the water. The crow realised that the water was deep down and the it couldn’t quite reach the water.
It was a big, heavy pitcher. The crow tried to peck at it with its beak, but the pitcher was big and heavy and it did not budge.
The crow was thirsty. Its throat was parched. The crow was confused and the sun was scorching. It was getting very hot. The crow did not want to give up.
It looked here and there and everywhere. It just did not know how to drink the water. It struggled and struggled, it pecked and pecked on the pot, hoping for it to break. But the pot was strong.
The crow wanted to give up, but it knew that if he keeps himself calm, he may be able to come up with another solution. He took a few deep breaths, calmed itself down. He then looked around with a relaxed mind. He then saw some pebbles lying around. These pebbles had been there all along but he hadn’t noticed them all this while. He was so focused on the idea of breaking the pitcher, he did not think of any other alternative.
Looking at the pebbles gave him an idea. An idea with which the crow could reach the water.
It quickly went over to the pebbles, picked up one pebble, and brought it back into the pitcher and dropped it – ploop. The pebble fell into the pitcher and the crow saw that the water moved.
The crow was determined to make this work. So it went over again, picked up another pebble and brought it back and dropped it again – ploop. The water moved again. It rippled a little bit.
So it went over again to the pile of pebbles. Picked up another one in its beak and brought it back – ploop and another and another. It was tiring for the crow but the crow knew that it would work.
After throwing in lots of pebbles in the pitcher the water level had risen. Yet, it was not enough for the crow to reach the water. So the crow started the exercise again. It went and got more pebbles and put them in the pitcher.
Finally, the water rose to the top of the pitcher. The crow was so excited! The crow then put its beak into the pitcher and took a big sip of water to quench its thirst.
‘Ah, caw.’ Tt heaved a sigh of relief. Its throat was not parched anymore.
And then the crow patted itself on its back for being so clever and flew off happily. ‘Caw, caw, caw, caw.’
FAQs about The Thirsty Crow Story
1. What is the moral of The Thirsty Crow?
The story teaches perseverance, problem-solving, and patience: where there is a will, there is a way.
2. Why is The Thirsty Crow famous?
It’s a simple folktale with a clever solution, making it easy for children to understand important life lessons.
3. Is The Thirsty Crow an Aesop’s fable?
Yes, it is widely recognized as part of Aesop’s fables, retold in many cultures including India.
4. How does this story help early readers?
Our Level 1 phonics read-along builds sound blending, reading confidence, comprehension, and life skills.
Wonderfully put together a story that we all grew up listening to. We do take away lessons from it but to put in words and staring at you..make you release a lot about yourself…and lessons learnt from it..
Loved it