Altus youth experienced firsthand the games early Native Americans played when the Omniplex came to Altus on Thursday.

At first the youngsters sat quietly on the floor in the Altus Public Library meeting room as Omniplex Museum Educator Eileen Castle, her son Sean Castle who is a volunteer, and director of education Sherry Marshall shared a story through a puppet show and narration.

But their silence soon turned to giggles and chatter as Sean played the part of a Native American boy and Marshall portrayed a horse. Eileen narrated the story of the early Native American sport of lacrosse between two teams, "flying animals" and "crawling animals," in which the perceived weaker of the two prevailed.

The story did more than entertain the children, it conveyed a lesson.

"The moral of the story is you don't have to be big to be really special," Eileen emphasized to the children. "Little guys can do big things."

After the story, the three shared more Native American derived games such as Arapaho shinny, in which players use sticks to catch two balls connected by a string in the middle and a ring toss of sorts. The rings are made using a straw, a piece of string, a ring, a bead and a feather. All the children made one to take home.

"The idea is to introduce them to different cultures, science and history through stories," Eileen explained of the event.

Amber Yocham's son Triston Martinez said his favorite part of the event was the puppet show.

This educational event is part of the Omniplex Outreach Program, which will be presented three to four times a week during the summer.

Eileen said she delights in interacting with youth because it allows her to embrace her inner child, and branch head librarian Donna Smith agreed.

"It's fun!" Eileen shouted. "You can act like a kid, and you don't have to act your age."

"You don't have to be professional, you can be informal with the kids," Smith said.

Marshall said she is delighted when children actually retain what they have learned.

"That's what's cool about it, especially when they remember because you know you made an impact," she said.

For more information, call (405) 602-OMNI or visit the Omniplex Web site at www.omniplex.org.