Jesse Tree

I first heard about the concept of a Jesse Tree last year before Christmas and thought that it sounded fun. I am always looking for ways to help my kids understand the meaning behind Christmas and this seemed like a good way to do that. As I understand it, the Jesse tree is a daily devotional that takes the reader through the lineage of Jesus culminating in his birth. Each devotional day has an ornament to correlate with it that the kids can color or create and hang on a Christmas tree.

Here are some devotional sites that are helpful:
http://www.eriercd.org/pdf/reflections.pdf
http://www.jesse-tree.com/jesse_tree.html
http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628
http://www.jesse-trees.com/parent/parent-devotions.html - parent devotions

I purchased my twleve day devotional set from Illuminated Ink. The ornaments that we used were ones that my kids took turns coloring and cutting out. They ended up being three dimensional and the kids loved them. They were so excited when I pulled them out again this year.

Here are a few sites about making the Jesse Tree:
http://www.shalfleet.net/advent/makeajessetree.htm
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=545
http://www.kingofpeace.org/resources/ - Scroll down for ornament templates
http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1625

Free Printables:
http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/JesseTree.pdf
https://www.pcusa.org/advent/pdf/advent-eng1.pdf - printable ornaments with instructions
http://www.kingofpeace.org/advent/advent.htm
http://www.jesustreedecorations.com/html/descriptions.html


I hope your kids have as much fun as mine are having!