A friend sent me this question, so here's the answer:
Here is a post from my blog about it...
http://myhomeschool101.blogspot.com/2008/10/advent-jesse-tree.html
The idea comes from all the prophesies about Jesus in the Old Testament.
Advent is waiting for Jesus, just as all of the Old Testament was waiting for
Jesus.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,and a branch shall
grow
out of his roots. Isaiah 11:1
There are many variations on which prophesies & symbols to choose.
 | The ones for my older kids are more symbolic (The prophesy of the
suffering servant Isaiah 53:4-7, 9, 12b: the cross, the prophesy of a new
creation Isaiah 11:6-10: the lion and the lamb, etc.)
| The ones we chose this year are for the littler kids and less abstract.
Just the people who were waiting for the Messiah. http://myhomeschool101.blogspot.com/2008/11/jesse-tree-ornaments.html |
|
It's not that big of a deal if we miss a day. We just skip that one and go
on. I just want them to get the idea that all of the Old Testament was waiting
for Jesus.
We like doing a Jesse
Tree. We like the kids understanding that throughout history, our world
has been gearing up for the great event of Christ's comming. That Kings
(David) and murderers (Moses) have participated in the story of salvation and
pre-figured Christ. That they, too, participate in this universe-shattering
event.
This year, a WONDERFUL (and slightly fool-hearty, *Hi, Nancy!*) friend
organized a Jesse Tree ornament swap for our homeschool group. We've got 10
families participating, so we'll each make 10 copies of 3 different ornaments.
Below are some website I found to spark our creativity for our ornaments and
Nancy's organization for the swap
.
Organizing the swap
Part
1,
Part
2 &
Part
3 plus GREAT PICS!
This lady has a post of her own for organizing a swap, so you'll have to
go there.
Beautiful
felt pillow-type
Recipe for Baker's Clay
for ornaments that look like
these.
I don't know if
these
are made from metal or paper, but they're striking from
Catholic
Company.com
Regular
ornaments turned into Jesse Tree Ornaments
These could be printed, colored & laminated or copied onto shrinky dink or
someother kewl idea you might have -- great representations
fancy,
simple
(these are the ones we did one year),
a
little larger ornaments
Printable
ornaments that are in color (these are so sweet) and
circular
ones in color that could be pasted directly onto a juice lid for
stability.
Ornaments
you can buy (these 3-D ones look very kewl!)
Patterns to
purchase for embroidry or cross-stitch -- I think we'll do something
similar for one of the ornaments this year.
Letter dated Oct 7th
Ladies, I know this seems early but I've been thinking about the Jesse Tree
Idea that was in a Magazine last year. The basic idea is for each family to
take one of the ornaments and make the same ornament for each family
participating. Then we will have a different ornament made by a different
family for each Scripture passage in the Jesse tree....
For example if my family were to be assigned Adam and Eve as our passage and
we had 20 families participating we might make 20 apple ornaments. The
ornaments can be as simple or as complicated as your family wanted them to be.
You might even find what you are looking for already as the perfect ornament
at the dollar store/hobby lobby etc. and that would be fine. The
fun is in the surprise and sharing with other families.
The Jesse tree that I usually do with my kids has 28 ornaments with scripture
verses to go with each one for each day of advent. (the last 8 being the
"O" Antiphons) If we have fewer families who are able to participate
then we could either shorten the list or double up the ornaments.
If you think you are interested please let me know so that I can coordinate
the number of verses we will have and find a meeting spot/time to swap the
ornaments. I will need a definite number by October 20, to figure out the
logistics of the swap and so that each family will have time to
complete their ornaments before Advent begins.
Letter Dated Oct 27th
We have 10 families who have agreed to participate in the Jesse Tree ornament
Swap. The next step is for each family to choose how many different ornaments
they are willing to make. I had a couple of people say they are willing to
make 3 different ornaments meaning a total of 30 ornaments that their family
will make for the group. If you can only get one set done that's fine.
I've decided to leave the O antiphons out this time around. Maybe next year we
can try just those? They are a little bit more difficult to come up with a
symbol that makes sense to the little kids. (I may just hang mine with the
words as a type of garland on the tree.) If you find my list lacking in anyway
feel free to complain. I checked so many different lists that this seemed the
best one I could find, it was based on people and I thought the smallest kids
could understand the symbols better than some of the lists with abstract
concepts and symbols of those (like peace).
Okay so what do you need to do now?
Let me know which ornaments you'd like to do. Remember you'll make a duplicate
of the ornament for each family participating. DO NOT START ON YOUR ORNAMENTS
until I get back with a definite yes. I will sign everyone up first come first
served. I know a couple of you are out of town right now but if I can have
people get back to me by Monday Nov 3. I can get the list back some time later
that week....
Basic guidelines as you start thinking about what you might want to do
1. Keep them between 1-3 inches so they can fit on a small tree or branch
2. have a way to hang it
3. be as creative as you have time for (you can cheat and buy them already
done)
there are no real guidelines for materials . You can use clay, wood, etc...
but
we all have small kids....glass might not be too durable.
4. you don't have to have your verse printed on the ornament...it's just for
reference
I have read or sometimes just retold the verses to my kids....
I think that's it. If you have any other questions let me know.
1. CREATION
Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-4 |
2. ADAM AND EVE
Genesis 3:1-7 |
3. NOAH
Genesis 6:11-22; 9:8-13 |
4. ABRAHAM & SARAH
Genesis 12:1-7 and Hebrews 11:8 |
5. ISAAC & REBECCA
Genesis 22:1-7 |
|
6. JACOB & RACHEL
Genesis 28:10-22 |
7. JOSEPH
Genesis 37:1-4 |
8. MOSES
Exodus 20:1-17 |
9. AARON
Exodus 5:22, 11:5 |
10. JOSHUA
Joshua 6:20 |
11. SAMSON
Judges 16:21-30 |
12. RUTH
Ruth 1:15-18 |
13. JESSE
Isaiah 11:1-2 |
14. DAVID
Samuel 5:1-5
|
15. SOLOMON
1 Kings 3:3-14
|
16. ELIJAH
2 Kings 2:11-18
|
17. ISAIAH
Isaiah 2:4;7:14:9:6-7
|
18. DANIEL
Daniel 6:10-23
|
19.JONAH
Jonah 1-4 |
20. ZECHARIAH & ELIZABETH
Luke 1:5-23 |
21. JOHN THE BAPTIST Matthew 3 :1-11 |
22. ANNE & JOACHIM (Mary's parents) |
23. MARY
Luke 1: 26 - 38 |
alternate Mary
|
24. JOSEPH OF NAZARETH
Matthew 1:18 - 25 |
|
25. STAR OF BETHLEHEM Matthew 2:1-12
|
26. SHEPHERDS
Luke 2:8-20 |
27. ANGEL
Luke 2:8-14 |
28. JESUS
Luke 2:1-20
|
These are the Jesse Tree figures each
family made for our Jesse
Tree Ornament Swap ! I'll add pictures of CREATION, ADAM AND EVE,
and NOAH later. It AMAZED me the varied (and seriously kewl) materials
and creativity each family used for their ornaments!! We were already
talking about doing this next year with an 'O Antiphons' theme! |
