Aesops Fables: The Fox & the Stork

The Fox & the Stork

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing.

"You must come and dine with me today," he said to the Stork, smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The Stork gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage. Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly:

Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself. (Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12 )

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Story Idea: focus on sharing/helping
We didn't have a stork puppet with a long beak, and I didn't want to pretend the little bird puppet had a long one,so we did a giraffe. The giraffe could eat way up in the trees (unlike fox who couldn't climb trees), and fox could eat what he's stored in the tree/ground (unlike giraffe who was too big/tall).
We used a stuffed tree thing we have with holes in it to put fox's food in and giraffe's food on top of. Fox invited Giraffe to the tree to eat, then giraffe invited fox to the tree to eat also. But both didn't share/help the other get food. They weren't considerate.
So for an alternative ending to make things right they both ending up sharing/helping the other animal eat.
This was great to liken to Ethan inviting friends over to play and then not sharing his toys with them. So when he goes to their houses they might not want to share either. So he chose to share/help.