Jesse Tree for Advent

A few of my friends have mentioned to me that they are doing a "Jesse Tree" with their children for Advent.  I had never heard of it, so I did a little research.  

This is what About.com had to say about it:

The Jesse Tree is a unique Advent tree that can be very useful for teaching children about the Bible at Christmas, and a fun activity, too! The Jesse Tree represents the family tree, or genealogy of Jesus Christ. It tells the story of God's salvation plan, beginning with creation and continuing through the Old Testament, to the coming of the Messiah. The name comes from Isaiah 11:1, "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit." (NASB)

Each day of Advent a homemade ornament is added to the Jesse Tree, a small tree made of evergreen branches. These symbolic ornaments can each represent a prophecy foretelling of Christ. Other variations include creating ornaments that represent the ancestors in the lineage of Christ, or using the various monogram symbols of Christianity as handmade ornaments. 

If this sounds like something you'd like to do with your kids, here is a link to a website with printable ornaments (scroll down a bit to find it).

Below is a chart to follow as you day-by-day hang a symbolic ornament on the tree:

Table of Scripture Readings for the Story

Date	Persons	Events/Themes	Scripture	Symbols
First Sunday	Introduction of the Jesse Tree		1 Sam 16:1-13 Isa 11:1-10	The Tree
Mon Wk 1	God	Creation	Gen 1:1-2:3	Dove
Tues Wk 1	Adam and Eve	The First Sin	Gen 2:4-3:24	Tree with Fruit or Apple
Wed Wk 1	Noah	The Flood	Gen 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 20-9:17	Rainbow or Ark
Thur Wk 1	Abraham	The Promise	Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6	Field of Stars
Friday Wk 1	Isaac	Offering of Isaac	Gen 22:1-19	Ram
Sat Wk 1	Jacob	Assurance of the  Promise	Gen 27:41-28:22	Ladder
Second Sunday	Joseph	God's Providence	Gen 37, 39:1-50:21	Sack of Grain or Coat
Mon Wk 2	Moses	God's Leadership	Exod 2:1-4:20	Burning Bush
Tues Wk 2	Israelites	Passover and Exodus	Exod 12:1-14:31	Lamb
Wed Wk 2	God	Giving the Torah at Sinai	Exod 19:1-20:20	Tablets of the Torah
Thur Wk 2	Joshua	The Fall of Jericho	Josh 1:1-11, 6:1-20	Ram's Horn Trumpet
Fri Wk 2	Gideon	Unlikely Heroes	Judg 2:6-23, 6:1-6, 11-8:28	Clay Water Pitcher
Sat Wk 2	Samuel	The Beginning of the Kingdom	1 Sam 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9	Crown
Third Sunday	David	A Shepherd for the People	1 Sam 16:1-23-17:58, 2 Sam 5:1-5, 7:1-17	Shepherd's Crook or Harp
Mon Wk 3	Elijah	The Threat of False Gods	1 Kng 17:1-16, 18:17-46	Stone Altar
Tues Wk 3	Hezekiah	Faithfulness and Deliverance	2 Kng 18:1-19:19, 32-37	An Empty Tent
Wed Wk 3	Isaiah	The Call to Holiness	Isa 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7	Fire Tongs with Hot Coal
Thur Wk 3	Jeremiah	The Exile	Jer 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22-9:1-11	Tears
Fri Wk 3	Habakkuk	Waiting	Hab 1:1-2:1, 3:16-19	Stone Watchtower
Sat Wk 3	Nehemiah	Return and Rebuilding	Neh 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:10-22	City Wall
Fourth Sunday	John the Baptist	Repentance	Luke 1:57-80, 3:1-207:18-30	Scallop Shell
Mon Wk 4	Mary	The Hope for a  Future	Luke 1:26-38	White Lily
Tues Wk 4	Elizabeth	Joy	Luke 1:39-56	Mother and Child
Wed Wk 4	Zechariah	Anticipation	Luke 1:57-80	Pencil and Tablet
Thurs Wk 4	Joseph	Trust	Matt 1:19-25	Carpenter's Square or Hammer
Fri Wk 4	Magi	Worship	Matt 2:1-12	Star or Candle
Dec 24	Jesus	Birth of the Messiah	Luke 2:1-20	Manger
Dec 25	Christ	The Son of God	John 1:1-18	Chi-Rho Symbol

http://www.crivoice.org/jesse.html