Making a Jesse Tree

The last two years during Advent, it has been my goal to make a Jesse Tree with the girls.  Somehow, in the hustle and bustle, it never happened.  This year however, I was bound and determined to make it happen.  What better time for sit down crafts than when you're six months pregnant and fairly immobile anyway?

I have found it difficult to find the balance between saving Christmas celebration for the true Christmas season, (starting December 25th), and focusing on the penitential season of Advent, while not missing out on some of the simple joys of Christmas that seem to end on December 26th.  Last year, I waited and waited to listen to music on the Christmas radio station, only to find that they stop playing it the day after Christmas.  Bummer.  Aside from the slight disappointment of missing out on hearing "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus" several times a day, I have found that Christmas has a much more profound meaning when celebrated after spending the time in reflection awaiting the Christ child.  Once again, this year, I remind myself to hold up, trust the liturgical calendar and wait for our Christmas celebrations.  So back to the Jesse Tree....



I saw this fabulous idea on Pinterest...

Source: solandrachel.com via Katie on Pinterest

And decided that it would be our new Jesse Tree.  Knowing that I wouldn't follow through for the third year in a row unless I made a plan, I made chart of the lesson I would teach, where to find it in Scripture, the symbol I would use, and how to make it.  You can view and print it here.

Today was our first lesson and it was SO MUCH FUN.  It was a wonderful reminder of WHY I homeschool.  I read the girls the Creation account, and then they had to draw a picture and write about it.  We will combine these into their own Jesse Tree books.

While they were drawing and writing, I was busy getting the ornaments ready to hang, so that every day when we do our lesson, I would have the ornament pieces cut out and ready to assemble.

I soon realized that I was NOT going to get away with having only ONE ornament per lesson, and started cutting out THREE copies of each one.  There was NO WAY Clara was going to be left out of this endeavor.  The girls glued their worlds together, and we hung them on the tree.

 

This afternoon, we are using the leftover felt to decorate some other ornaments to put on the tree while we wait to add our Jesse Tree ornament from each day.  No one likes a tree with only three globes right?  I think that I am going to have to use velcro for some of the larger and heavier ornaments, but for the most part, they stick up on the tree very nicely.  

I love watching the girls and their enthusiasm to learn.  They are so excited to learn Salvation history through this project.  They don't miss the Christmas music on the radio, they are enjoying playing and singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" on the piano.  They are begging to light the purple candle everyday, and can hardly wait until we can light the pink one.  A child's heart is ready to rejoice in the anticipation of Christmas through the season of Advent.  I have a lot to learn from these littles.

Lastly, I just had to share one last picture that makes me smile every time I see it....

Have a blessed Advent as we await our coming Savior.