The Koala Who Could - Overcoming Fear & Trying Something New – Read Aloud

A read aloud story for children about overcoming fear, getting outside their comfort zone, and trying new things. This little Koala is perfectly content with his life way up in a tree. His friends on the ground invite him to join them, but he’s afraid to since he hasn’t spent much time there. It seems strange and foreign. So whenever they invite him, he says no. But then a Woodpecker comes and splits the tree he lives on. He falls to the ground and finds that his friends are there to help and comfort him. He builds his confidence and realizes he is safe there, so he switches his No’s for “I Can!”

The moral of this story is one that I think still applies to me today. I share how dancing was a hurdle like this for me when I was younger. I tell how I overcame my fear of the unknown and started going to dances and now it’s a hobby of mine that brings me a lot of joy and friendship. I could name a thousand other experiences like it from swim lessons to riding a bike, roller skating, or the first day of school, getting a haircut, meeting relatives for the first time, cooking new foods, trying new foods, meeting new people from other cultures and backgrounds, the list is endless. This is a pertinent little story that I think can help give your kids a good example to think about when they need to face their fear and go forward so they can grow. It’s just an over and over again theme of living life.