Saturday, November 8, 2014

Old Testament Timeline Printable for Jesse Tree

Okay, I'll admit it: I started playing Christmas music yesterday. 

with a few sweet ornaments from our ornament exchange group
I'm getting ready for one of my favorite family traditions of the whole year. During the Nativity Fast we do a Jesse Tree, with readings and ornaments from the Old Testament that lead to the birth of Christ. I've noticed my children don't always have a good sense of how the different events relate to one another. For years, I've wanted a Bible Timeline to provide a context for the stories we tell. There are several commercial ones: most have a lot of text and dates and are more involved than I need. I really like this one with all the pictures, but its 10' long! That just won't work for our home. 

So I obsessed over it for 48 hours, and made my own. I drew a simple cartoon history of the Old Testament. It doesn't include every prophet and king and favorite story (because otherwise it would be 10' long!), but it provides a big picture, so when you're reading your favorite story you can point and say, "this happened here." I'm hoping it will help my kids develop a sense of the continuity of the story.
I drew the timeline over 5 sheets of paper, but through the magic of Adobe, I've squished it onto a single printable page. Yes, ONE page. The pictures are tiny, but they are simple and readable, so I think it works. 

And its for you, too! Wishing you a good Nativity fast! Grab the printable PDF here - it includes a black and white page, and one with a little color. 

If you don't want the teeny-tiny version, you can order it in poster form from Zazzle in various sizes and paper qualities. I haven't actually done this yet, but I might. Let me know if you do! Click the embedded poster image below to head over to zazzle.


*I've cross-posted this on wewilsons blog to share the fun.
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12 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 9, 2014 at 1:08 PM

    Thank you so much for sharing this! I'd hoped to make all my Jesse Tree ornaments this year but I don't think it's going to happen!

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  2. AnonymousDecember 16, 2014 at 7:42 PM

    this is wonderful! thank you for sharing this! we printed it and laminated it and hung it up on a bulletin board in our school area.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 28, 2014 at 8:56 AM

    LOVE IT!! I am a huge fan of timelines, and adding the little cartoons is SO wonderful for readers and non readers alike. thank you so much for sharing your talent and creativity. i consider this a GREAT find!!

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2017 at 2:09 PM

    I teach toddlers, and I like to review so we don't forget what we have learned. This is a perfect tool. Thank you so much!

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  5. Kristen of A Mom's Quest to TeachMay 4, 2017 at 1:00 PM

    This looks great. Thank you for sharing!

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  6. Beach MamaMay 10, 2017 at 12:34 PM

    Love this! Would you happen to have a timeline for the New Testament?

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  7. JamieNovember 29, 2017 at 10:08 AM

    This is SO COOL thank you so much for sharing!

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  8. UnknownJanuary 30, 2018 at 10:34 AM

    Thanks so much for sharing. This has been very helpful in my church kids class in Qatar. :)

    Jules

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  9. UnknownAugust 23, 2018 at 5:25 AM

    This is amazing! If you ever feel up to it, it would be awesome to also have one of the New Testament. What a great tool for all ages this is!

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  10. Darin and KristyDecember 20, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    Love this! Also interested to know if you have a new testament version?

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  11. UnknownAugust 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM

    Thanks so much for this! My Sunday School children will absolutely love this.

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  12. KateMarch 1, 2021 at 11:43 AM

    Oh I love this! Thank you so much for sharing! What a gift.

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