Weekend Planner: The Best Weekend Events for Families (January 11-13)

Come dance, sing and hug at the all-new interactive DreamWorks Trolls The Experience coming to New York City this Fall 2018!

Visit the M.C. Escher exhibition and explore 200 original works that define the intersection between art, mathematics, science, and poetry. As one of the most successful graphic artists, Escher has fascinated and astounded generations of artists, architects, mathematicians, musicians and designers alike. Visit their website for times and ticket prices!

Harry Potter: A History Of Magic At New-York Historical Society

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society will include artifacts from the Harry Potter series, like the original illustrations for Scholastic’s first run of the novels, letters from J. K. Rowling, and handwritten drafts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The exhibit also includes medieval texts that inspired elements of the series. There’ll be regular family programs, including arts and crafts, writing workshops, and a historical Halloween celebration. The exhibit is open during museum hours. harrypotter.nyhistory.org

It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200

Commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Frankenstein—a classic of world literature and a masterpiece of horror—a new exhibition at the Morgan shows how Mary Shelley created a monster. It traces the origins and impact of her novel, which has been constantly reinterpreted in spinoffs, sequels, mashups, tributes and parodies. Shelley conceived the archetype of the mad scientist, who dares to flout the laws of nature, and devised a creature torn between good and evil. Her monster spoke out against injustice and begged for sympathy while performing acts of shocking violence. In the movies, the monster can be a brute pure and simple, yet he is still an object of compassion and remains a favorite on stage and screen.

Underground Heroes: New York Transit In Comics

New York’s rich visual vernacular is a colorful setting for illustrated stories, so it comes as no surprise that our iconic transportation system plays a starring role in comics and graphic novels. Drawing on satirical cartoons, comic strips and comic books from the 19th through the 21st centuries, Underground Heroes: New York Transit in Comics is a raucous ride through New York’s transit system from a range of visual storytellers. The exhibit includes such luminaries as Winsor McCay, Will Eisner, Bill Griffith, Roz Chast, Ronald Wimberly and Julia Wertz whose work demonstrates the influence that mass transit has on the stories that are irrevocably woven into the cultural fabric of New York City. Through 3/17. $10/adults, $5/children. New York Transit Museum 99 Schermerhorn Street. nytransitmuseum.org

On Essex Street and East Broadway in Seward Park, kids can check out this art installation that features photos of mom-and-pop shops, many of which have closed due to rising rents and gentrification.

Let the Quiet Events DJs’ watch your kids while you enjoy a Saturday afternoon brunch with friends. Katch Astoria is Queens’ Premiere Gastropub offering a huge dance floor for your kids to party & a wide range of drinks and tasty meals for everyone. Just take a look at their Brunch Menu. Make this your kid’s birthday party or just a fun afternoon with your friends while your kids are entertained by our interactive DJs getting them to sing, dance, and have a great time. They also will have a small arts & crafts table with coloring books, markers, crayons, and other fun activities for the kids to do if they don’t want to join the headphone party. Don’t worry mom & dad, they also have a music channel for you to dance to too! $10-25. Katch Astoria. 31-19 Newtown Avenue. quietevents.com

In The Otolith Group’s transtemporal consideration of modernity in urban India, the narrator questions, “Why do Indian artists produce so little science fiction?” The reply: “Satyajit Ray’s film The Alien would have rendered this question void. It is this emptiness that allows a nostalgia for a lost future.”