SAN MARCOS -- North County fifth-graders on Wednesday learned they could teach seniors a thing or two. And seniors discovered that, yes, they are smarter than a fifth-grader -- when the questions don't involve video games.

The first North County Intergenerational Games, held at Walnut Grove Park in San Marcos, was patterned after successful events designed to help close the generation gap in San Diego and Chula Vista.

"The schools love it. The youth are helping the seniors and vice versa," said Karen Singer, a North County coordinator for San Diego County Aging and Independence Services, also known as AIS.

Seniors ages 50 to 80 were paired with 30 fifth-graders from Twin Oaks Valley Elementary School for a morning spent playing vegetable toss, Frisbee golf, bocce ball and ring-toss games.

There was even a makeshift version of the popular network TV game show, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" What stumped many of the seniors was the Wii games table, which led to an impromptu seminar led by several students on the basics of playing the popular interactive Nintendo video game.

"It took me two or three days, but it's easy," Denise Bird, 10, advised her older students.

To keep it educational, most of the games were geared toward health and fitness topics.

But the overriding mission was to create a fun way for the different generations to develop understanding and a possible future relationship, too. Each team shared addresses at the "pen pals" table.

"At first the pairings are a little shy with each other. But at the end, it's like they've known each other forever. It's a good time," said AIS member Denise Nelesen.

Nelesen has helped coordinate the games with schools in San Diego and Chula Vista for the past seven years. The San Marcos contest was the first of what Nelesen hopes becomes many more North County International Games.

"It's good experience," Emily Nunez, 10, said about watching older people at play.

"I love interacting with younger kids," said her partner, Pam Baker, 58, of San Marcos, a grandmother of five who works in the banking industry.

Cathy Ramirez, 10, gave a thumbs-up to spending the morning with her partner, Reves Childress, 61, of San Marcos, a retired physical education teacher.

"You can have fun with them and teach them how to have fun," Cathy said.

Childress, who spent 32 years as a teacher, said he has always been a fan of activities that bring different generations together at work and play.

"For younger kids, it gives them an opportunity to see what old people are really like," Childress said. "And it gives the elderly a chance to see how kids are now, because kids have changed."

Renee Ramsey is a freelance writer for the North County Times.