MNO (Monday Night Occasion) - Games and Youth Art Drop-In and STEAM

Monday Night Occasion (MNO) is back at the Martindale-Brightwood Branch on Monday, November 16, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. It's an Indianapolis Public Library program that turns Monday nights into a family occasion: you spend an hour together making art, playing board games, working with play dough, or getting into small world-building activities. While the kids are creating, the library describes it as a space where school-aged children pick up social skills like confidence and empathy in a safe environment.

If you've never been, the format is pretty straightforward. It's an hour of open-ended making and playing, and since it's a library program, it's designed for families to do together rather than as a drop-off class. The activities—art, board games, play dough, and small world-building—run side-by-side, so you can drift between them or settle into one for the whole hour. It's a low-pressure way to spend a Monday evening with the kids, and because it's an hour, it fits into a school night without taking over the whole evening.

The sessions run on most Monday nights at 6:30 PM, so this isn't a one-off—if you like the vibe, there are more to follow. The venue itself is the Martindale-Brightwood Branch, located at 2434 North Sherman Drive in Indianapolis. The branch opened in 2020 as a brand-new building across the street from the previous one, which had opened in 1972 and seen its size double to 5,400 square feet during a 1996 renovation. This one is the new spot, and it's where the MNO sessions take place.

So, if you're looking for something to do with the family on a Monday night, you'll find them at the Martindale-Brightwood Branch on November 16, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM.