jesse tree - advent - getting ready for christmas

We have really enjoyed our time together as we have been preparing for Christmas. And I don't mean buying gifts and making cookies. We haven't even started any kind of shopping or baking. That will come in time.

We are trying to spend a little time each day doing family devotions in the evening as we celebrate advent. We read our verses and short devotional and light the candle. Like any busy family, we miss a day here and there, but we make it up when we can. It is nice to have a purposeful time each day to focus on God and His word.

This is our second week of Advent, and our family celebration night included family time at home watching an old Christmas movie. The girls are not feeling great so a night hanging out at home was just perfect. We watched the old Christmas In Connecticut movie (a favorite of mine).

We have also been working on making a Jesse Tree. Also a way to count down the days for Christmas, but with visual pictures that help retell the story of the Bible. We have not done a Jesse Tree before, so I googled some ideas and decided to print some pictures and use the verses from this site HERE. I was trying to do this in an easy way rather than "make" our own ornaments with felt or sewing, I just printed them and the girls made a tree on paper. I have the ability to make things more difficult for myself so I was determined to make this easy for all of us.


Each day we put an other ornament on the tree that represents different parts of the history of Christ and the Bible. We were a little behind so we have done more than one ornament a day, trying to catch up.

Maybe it is the educator inside of me that LOVES things like this. This is such a great way to have the kids learn Biblical history. Tristen pointed out how it is all connected and part of one big story.Right now our kitchen door is displaying this tool we are using to learn more about God and His history.

I love being purposeful and spending our time on things that we find a lot of value in. If the Jesse tree works well for us, I might make some cute ornaments out of felt for next year. You know...in my spare time. =)

my favorite kids Bible studies

I am often asked what my favorite Bible studies are for kids. I thought I would post it here as a resource for others when someone is looking for ideas of how to share God's word with their kids.

I believe that you can start this habit early with your kids. Time with God can and should be part of our every day life with our children. When my kids were just toddlers/preschoolers, I found a great devotional. We even used it in pre-k and kindergarten.This is still my favorite book for little ones. We read ours MANY times (even broke the binding). It uses real life stories to help kids learn to obey and have a heart for God. It is not a Bible story book, but more situational. We used ours as part of our story time in the evenings. To help the kids stay engaged, you hunt for "Nightlight" a little glow worm on each page. You can order it from Amazon for about $10 new (HERE).


We have also tried the God and Me devotionals HERE (for girls - the boys version is Gotta Have God HERE).
These are also situational books for kids. They break them down into different age levels, 2-5 year olds (can't do with out parents help), 6-9 year olds (my older kids have even done these) and then 10-12 year olds. They also have a second book for each of these levels (like God and Me 2). My girls are old enough to do these on their own and we have done several of them.There is a little story, a verse or passage to read, questions to answer and then some kind of activity or craft. My kids have really enjoyed these. If you are looking for something that your kids can do on their own to start the habit of alone time with God each day, I would recommend these. Also about $10 each and you can find them on Amazon or in some Christian book stores. I also get these at homeschool conventions and have found them at yard sales or Goodwill.



My all time favorite is the Precepts for kids series (HERE or HERE). I have shared about them several times before (HERE). But it is worth mentioning again. This year we are studying the names of God (God, What's Your Name? - HERE) and we have all really enjoyed the study. These are a bit more advanced. Even though they say they are for kids 8-12, I really couldn't see my 8 year old doing these on her own. We do them together for group study time.

These books teach your child (and you too) to study God's word. How to really study scripture at such a young age. What a fantastic thing. We read the bible passage, mark the text, and answer the questions. We work through these slowly and don't ever do a "days lesson" in one day. We usually take several days to accomplish the lesson. I usually do the reading and they do the writing. I absolutely love these books. I can see older kids (older than 12) still benefiting from them.

Just wanted to share some of the tools we have used to hide God's word in our hearts. I have been recently challenged of how purposeful I need to be to do this with my kids.

You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.