Music Video For My Sister Lori Henriques and Coloring Sheet Kids Craft

I just finished a new music video for my sister’s upcoming kids album. The song is “When I Look Into The Night Sky.” It was a really fun video to make! I painted some paper and made abstract space objects, tied them to some thread, and basically did a puppet show. Our almost two year old seems to approve of the video. She keeps saying, “moon, moon!” while doing the more sign with her fingers. Cute!

If the video inspires your kids, I’ve included a coloring sheet template so they can create their own paper craft movie set. Simple instructions below!

And at the end of the post is an interesting note from Lori, where she talks about her creative process while writing the song.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Below are some behind the scenes photos of the “movie set.”

While shooting the video, I just moved the planets around with strings, while sliding the characters across the floor with paper clips and magnets. I also had to do a lot of fanning with an old record album sleeve when I needed to make the stars in the background twinkle and move.

Below you can see that I taped some of the standing props to wooden blocks. Then bent paper clips and taped them to the backs of the characters so I could slide them around with the magnets. You can easily do the same with the printable below! For the telescope, just cut it out and bend the middle leg forward a bit, and the two outside legs back slightly to make it stand up.

For the flying people and shooting star, I just attached two pieces of thread to a stick of wood or piece of cardboard, then “flew” them around.

Instructions:
1 – Print the sheet below and color it in
2 – Cut out the objects
3 – Tape thread to the back of the hanging objects. Tape standing objects (the big sun ray) to a block to stand it up. Then cut out the people and tape them to a bent paper clip, or print out another copy and attach a second set of people to two pieces of thread so you can fly them around. (See above images.)
4 – Finally, find a box and tape the objects to the inside top of the box to hang your planets and stars. You can even use magnets to slide the paper clip people around on the floor of the box.

Template below: Click on the image, then print.

Note from Lori:

I love the haunting melody of Saint James Infirmary and have wanted to introduce it to children for a long time. A couple years ago, I began creating some lyrics better-suited for kids but found I couldn’t quite explain this big idea I was feeling, so I kept coming back to it every few months. It had been rolling around in my mind all this time when I came across a quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson that included, almost word for word, the first line of my lyrics:

“I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up—many people feel small, because they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars.”

Reading his quote, I had an aha moment and finished the song soon after that. Most of my songs come quickly, so you can imagine it was a very good feeling to have this song come together after working on it for over two years. Hearing it now while watching my brother’s abstractly transcendent take on the human fascination with the stars, it feels like the melody really wanted to go here. We sparkle and we marvel…

xoxo Lori

35 Responses
  1. Sandra

    Dear Joel,

    I follow your blog for some time from Portugal. It is very beautiful. I loved the video and inspired me to do something like that with my kids.

  2. Hi Joel,

    Thanks for sharing this with us. I love your sister’s music. I’ve both her albums and listen to it regularly at home and in my classroom.
    I also love your work for the simplicity and ease in which kids can be creative and just – play!

  3. Thank you so much for your generous comments. ♥ I’m so pleased at how the blend of the art and music turned out. Many thanks to Joel for putting such soul into this project.

  4. @Sharon – I’m SO pleased you use my music in your classroom! I have an outreach plan to try to send my next album to many teachers for their classrooms because of the learning content of this new album. Message me at lorimusic@me.com with your address and I will send you one in June when it’s out!
    @Sandra: Thank you for listening from so far away! I have a tiny little shout-out to Portuguese in the first track of my upcoming album. It’s so beautiful, I wish I knew how to speak the language so I could write a whole song in it! Hopefully one day…

  5. Tricia Mace

    I am a friend of Marcia’s and actually have an autographed copy of your book (and am awaiting grandchildren to fully “implement” the projects!). I came to your home MANY years ago (before children for you!) and you were having a show. I purchased for my husband a guitar painting that we have enjoyed to this day! Still have some of your cards that I couldn’t part with in the mail!! Carry on, Joel!! I watched the video you made for your sister – fabulous! May you continue to inspire imagination in all of us!!

    1. Hi Tricia. So nice of you to leave such a kind comment! I totally remember meeting you at the art show. Thanks for being so supportive! I’m sure we’ll run into each other again on party or another. Say hi to Reggie for me.

  6. Jackie B

    Absolutely love this video and the other artwork I’ve seen on your site! The colorful planets are awesome!

  7. Hi Joel & Lori,

    this is SO beautiful. Thank you for creating it and for sharing the process — that makes it even more inspiring!
    It made me think of Katherine Paterson’s novel The Same Stuff as Stars — have you read it? And also Madeleine l’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.
    Looking forward to seeing & hearing more!

    Anna

  8. Joyce Marsh

    Thank you for such simplistic beauty. I come to view your site often to escape the confounding images of today’s junk. Lori’s voice and song was simply soothing and beautiful. Thanks again!

  9. Hi Joel and Lori,
    Wow ! This is just fabulous – the song, the concept, the inspiration and your interest in exploring big ideas with kids.
    Thank you so much for sharing your ideas. Joel, I used so many of your ideas when my kids were smaller, I even bought them a bandsaw … then we got busy … now we are back!!
    Wonderful.