Spare Times for Children for May 10-16 Adventures From Ezra Jack Keats The author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats had a talent for illuminating the extraordinary within the ordinary, whether it was the sense of wonder in the season's first snowfall or the hidden beauty in a rough-and-tumble tenement. His characters were surprising, too: By focusing on a black child in "The Snowy Day" (1962), he helped revolutionize picture books. Now Tada! Youth Theater, whose members, ages 8 to 18, are as diverse as Keats's heroes and heroines, has revived "Adventures From Ezra Jack Keats," two one-acts based on his work. Apt. 3," adapted by Davidson Lloyd and directed and choreographed by Joanna Greer, turns Keats's tale of two brothers, Sam (Reynaldo Nunez) and Ben (Tau Bennett), into a dance theater piece. In Keats's book, published in 1971, the boys wander through their rundown building on a rainy evening, trying to locate the harmonica music they hear; in this version the haunting strains come from a saxophone. Eventually they trace them to their neighbor in Apartment 3, who is blind but helps them see their world anew. In addition to smoky jazz, Andrew Markus, the work's composer and sound designer, has created an atmosphere throbbing with city noise and percussive heat. Onstage, free-standing doors turn into scrims when illuminated, revealing the TV actors, arguing couples and shrill commercials heard behind them. Steve O'Shea designed the sets. But everywhere there is cause for dancing, as the ensemble members nimbly portray everything from party revelers to imaginary monsters. "Maggie and the Pirate," a mini-musical directed by Janine Nina Trevens, unfolds in a sunnier setting. Maggie (played by Sammi Pohly, kneeling in yellow jumper above, and Sam Besca at different performances), a sprightly child who lives in a converted bus, has a mystery to solve: a pirate appears to have stolen a cage with her pet cricket, Niki, inside. Maggie and her friends set off to retrieve Niki, who accidentally becomes a casualty of the rescue mission. This death could upset some children, but Winnie Holzman, who wrote the book for "Wicked," has given the "Maggie" script and lyrics the right mix of piquancy and pathos. And the pet's demise, true to Keats's 1979 story, makes the tentative friendship between Maggie and the pirate, actually a new neighborhood boy (Sawyer Smith), that much more poignant. David Evans has written a charming score, including a recurring flute solo representing Niki's call. And so what if crickets don't sound like flutes? Music, Keats would agree, is where you find it. (Through May 19. Saturdays and Sundays at 2 and 4 p.m., except this Sunday, Tada!, 15 West 28th Street, Manhattan, 212-252-1619, Ext. 5, tadatheater.com; $20; $8 for 16 and under; $25 and $15 for premium tickets.) For Children "Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures From Playgrounds to Palaces" (Friday, and Sunday through Tuesday) Children will step into the shoes of an explorer like Indiana Jones in this permanent exhibition at the Jewish Museum, but the adventures will be purely scholarly. From 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, but closed this Thursday for Shavuot; 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org. Close Your Eyes and Discover Mr. Morgan's Library! (Saturday) Most people would want to visit a library with their eyes wide open. At this program, however, the point is not to read the books but to experience the architecture. The Morgan Library & Museum is inviting children 6 to 12 to visit J. P. Morgan's 1906 library, where they will close their eyes and explore the space through hearing and touch before completing an architectural art project. From 2 to 4 p.m., 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, Ext. 560, themorgan.org; $6; $4 for members; $2 for children. "The Earth and Me" (Friday) The earth evolved over millions of years, but humanity has needed only a few centuries to pollute it. Written by Jeff Olmstead and Sandra Robbins, the piece, ending its run this weekend, incorporates dance, screen projections and, of course, shadow puppets, rod puppets and marionettes. The park has expanded its programs and shows, including a new 23-minute 3-D movie, "Dinosaurs Alive!," about dinosaur hunting in Mongolia and New Mexico. This Saturday and Sunday are also "Weird Field Station Weekend," with tours and demonstrations focusing on paleontological oddities. Film Forum Jr.: "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (Sunday) Film Forum, the downtown cinema, is now the proud parent of Film Forum Jr., a new series introducing classic movies to children. This week's film, for young viewers who appreciate suspense, is "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), a Hitchcock thriller featuring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day as innocent tourists caught in a web of intrigue and murder. Set in a land of goddesses, imps and talking animals, and recommended for children over 7, the production, closing this weekend, is based on the novel by Philip Pullman, the celebrated author of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m., New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (646) 223-3010, newvictory.org; $14 to $38; $9 to $25 for members. "Gadjiteration" (Saturday) One person's junk is another person's gadget or, in this case, musical instrument. This workshop for children 11 through 13, part of the Parsons Festival at Parsons the New School for Design, will turn everything from old cellphones to egg cartons into forms of electronic sound makers. It's called physical computing, and materials will be provided, but participants are also asked to bring old devices, toys and boxes that close: anything they'd like to see beep and light up. Parsons the New School for Design, 6 East 16th Street, 12th floor, Manhattan, newschool.edu/parsons/festival; free, but registration is required at eventbrite.com/event/5768568945. "Go Fish" (Saturday) Fishing can be a lot of fun, unless you happen to be a fish. These events from the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy turn the experience into a win-win situation. Master anglers will help children cast lines with barbless hooks into New York Bay, and all fish will be placed in tanks and identified and observed before heading back to their homes. The day will also include fish-related art projects; a rock concert from the group Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, at 12:30 p.m.; and "Raptors: Birds of Prey," a presentation by the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center, featuring falcons, owls and hawks, at 11 a.m. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, Battery Park City (access at Battery Place), Lower Manhattan, (212) 267-9700, bpcparks.org; free. Grand Centennial Parade of Trains (Saturday and Sunday) Trains visiting Grand Central Terminal may sound like an everyday event, but there's nothing everyday about some of the cars that will be on display and open for tours this weekend. To celebrate the centennial of the station, Tracks 34 through 37 will showcase 16 historic rail cars, including an observation car from the 20th Century Limited. The event will include a model train show and a Kid Junction in Vanderbilt Hall, where children can enjoy train-related music, book readings, demonstrations, safety presentations and a display from the "Chuggington" animated television series on Disney Junior. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Grand Central Terminal, grandcentralterminal.com/centennial; free. "Hatched" (Friday and Thursday) Field trips sometimes take city children to farms, but this piece will take the farm to the children. At 11 a.m., Ailey Studio Theater, 405 West 55th Street, Clinton. Dolly Levi, Horace Vandergelder and the rest of the gang are onstage again in this venerable musical by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman, closing this weekend. Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.; 14th Street Y LABA Theater, 344 East 14th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, amasmusical.org; $20; $16 for 65+, students and children. Kids Comic Con 7 (Saturday) Yes, there's actually a children's version of Comic Con, that great gathering for all those obsessed with comics, manga, animation, video games and the characters that populate those art forms. And this has a very family-friendly admissions policy: it's free. This seventh edition, whose theme is "Sci-Fact to Sci-Fiction, Where Creativity and Technology Meet," includes drawing workshops, panel discussions, an on-site Scholastic book fair, a documentary film screening and chances to meet members of the creative teams from Archie Comics, "Sesame Street," Marvel and DC Comics and many other organizations. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Colston Hall, Bronx Community College, 181st Street and University Avenue, University Heights, the Bronx, kidscomiccon.com; free. That's what Catherine Fowles and Jara Jones are attempting in Off Broadway Family Theater's first production, le Clanché du Rand's adaptation of C. S. Lewis's classic novel. La MaMa Kids: Mask Making (Saturday) La MaMa, the downtown theater that recently celebrated 50 years of cultivating cutting-edge adults, is now turning its attention to cutting-edge kids. This new series for families presents interactive workshops with experimental artists on the second Saturday of every month. This program features Federico Restrepo, a member of the Great Jones Repertory Company, who will lead children in making animal masks and in creating dances that reflect their wild identities. At 11 a.m., La MaMa Galleria, 6 East First Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org; $10 a family. "Manners for Mother's Day" (Saturday) The organization socialsklz will allow young people to obtain a gift that any mother would appreciate: excellent manners from her children. This class for students 4 and older - and their moms - will focus on place settings, correct use of utensils, mealtime etiquette and how to be a good host or guest. It ends with a mini dinner party drawing on the lesson. At 11 a.m., socialsklz, 250 West 85th Street, Manhattan, (212) 579-5300, socialsklz.com; $35; reservations required via phone or an e-mail to info@socialsklz.com. Through June 9. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. Free with admission: $11; $7 for 65+; free for under 1 and members. Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo (Saturday) Timba what? Timbalooloo is a method of teaching music fundamentals to children, developed by the clarinetist Oran Etkin. Incorporating games, stories and rhythms from many cultures, it will be on display at this concert, at which Mr. Etkin will lead listeners - the recommended ages are 3 to 10 - to places like Harlem, Cuba and New Orleans. At 1:30 p.m., TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, near Greenwich Street, (212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org; $25; $15 for 10Club members. "The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine" (Saturday) Robert Frost knew that good fences don't always make good neighbors; sometimes what you really need is a bear. You can learn the reason in this wonderful new show from the Paper Bag Players, in which everything is fresh out of the bag: they're presenting all new material, written by the actors and the artistic director, Ted Brackett. They're still making magic out of cardboard and brown wrapping paper in these musically enhanced and highly interactive skits for ages 3 to 9, several of them with a Wild West slant. At 3 p.m., Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, Lower East Side, (212) 353-2332, thepaperbagplayers.org; free. Friday, and Tuesday through Thursday, at 10:30 a.m. and noon, with an additional 2:30 p.m. show on Wednesday; Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; 79th Street and the West Drive, Central Park, (212) 988-9093, cityparksfoundation.org/arts; $10; $7 for ages 12 and under. "Preservation Detectives: A World of Shapes and Colors" (Sunday) The Museum at Eldridge Street, the 1887 landmark synagogue where many Jewish immigrants worshiped, offers "Preservation Detectives" tours in which children 4 to 11 can view artifacts, investigate neighborhood lore and sleuth their way into the past. In honor of Mother's Day, this month's program, "The Real Housewives of Eldridge Street," focuses on the intrepid local women who led the Kosher Meat Boycot of 1902. A protest over rising meat prices, the boycott even led to a disruption of services at the synagogue. Today's participants will make a protest sign, write a newspaper headline and create bouquets of paper flowers to take home to 2013 mothers. From 1 to 2 p.m., 12 Eldridge Street, between Canal and Division Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0302, eldridgestreet.org/visit/family; $15 a family. Reservations are recommended. "Rumpelstiltskin" (Friday and Saturday) That little man with the funny name is causing trouble again, this time at Lehman College in the Bronx, where he is the subject of the latest musical production for which Prof. Penny Price is the composer and lyricist. Every year Professor Price creates a show for which a group of students, alumni and community members writes the script. This version presents a more sympathetic view of Rumpelstiltskin as the victim of the king's bullying. Friday at 11 a.m. (sold out) and 1 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. (sold out); Music Building of Lehman College, Recital Hall, Room 306, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, at Goulden Avenue, Bedford Park, the Bronx, (718) 960-8247, www.lehman.cuny.edu, tinyurl.com/co8g47o; free, but reservations are required. "Sideways Stories From Wayside School" (Friday through Sunday) Wayside School ranks right up there with Hogwarts as an unusual educational institution. Created by the novelist Louis Sachar, Wayside features a teacher who can turn students into apples; it also has a resident cow and classrooms stacked 30 stories high (except for the missing 19th floor). John Olive's theatrical adaptation of the comic misadventures of the 30th-story students is now being presented by the New Acting Company, which has settled into a new home on the Lower East Side. Fridays at 7:30 p.m. (except May 17); Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 5 p.m.; the Celebration of Whimsy, 21-A Clinton Street, between Houston and Stanton Streets, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com, thenewactingcompany.com; $18 in advance; $20 (cash only) at the door. "10-Foot Cops: The NYPD's Mounted Unit" (Friday through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Not all of the heroes of the Police Department walk on two legs. "A Voyage Through Jewish History" (Sunday and Monday) This journey involves not just miles, but years. Closed this Tuesday through Thursday for Shavuot. "Wanda's Monster: The Musical" (Friday through Sunday) Making Books Sing, which turns children's books into musicals, has adapted Eileen Spinelli's 2002 picture book about Wanda, a little girl who knows that a monster lives in her closet. Barbara Zinn Krieger, who wrote the script, has transformed Wanda's Granny - the only adult who acknowledges the truth of Wanda's perception - from a sensible soul into a kick-out-the-jams rocker. This charming hourlong production, closing this weekend, brings home a point worth considering at any age: embrace what you fear, and you just may find a friend. Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. (the 10:30 show is sold out); Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Theater 3, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (646) 250-1178, makingbookssing.org; $20; $15 for children.