CEDAR FALLS - The net and ball reminded the fifth-grade students of a game they had played or seen played dozens of times before.

But, when Jessica McGrath began explaining the Buka Ball rules they quickly learned this game was quite a bit different than the volleyball games they knew. Instead, the game included rules from volleyball, soccer and even hackey sack. Buka Ball, the national sport of Malaysia, was just one of the several international games fifth and sixth grade students at Orchard Hill Elementary learned to play Monday as part of McDonald's Passport to Play program.

McGrath, a field manager for the program, warned the students they may want to hold their hands behind their backs to keep from trying to play the game like volleyball or risk the wrath of a Buka Blooper.

"You don't want to touch that ball with your hands, unless it falls on the ground," she warned, her big smile letting the kids know the consequences weren't really that serious.

The Passport to Play program is part of McDonald's bigger push toward nutritional choices and active lifestyles especially for their younger customers. The program will be introduced in about 96 schools this year, including Lincoln Elementary today, and an additional 31,000 schools have signed on to use the program in their physical education classes.

While McGrath was busy teaching one group about Buka Ball, Jessica Krenz was explaining the rules of Tlatchtli to another group of students. Though some rules are similar to a more well-known sport - soccer - Krenz said this game was only played until someone scored the first goal. And it didn't take the kids long to figure out why. Sending a kickball through the small hole cut out of a "brick wall" was a lot harder than it looked - and players in ancient Mexico, where the game originated, played with five-pound rubber balls and had to kick the ball through a hole in a wall five feet off the ground, all without shoes.

"We got some good shots, but the wind kept moving the balls," said Tre Dreyer, after attempting to make a goal several times.

"It's a lot harder than it looks," added his classmate, Brandon Corkery.

While some of the games use equipment the schools don't have, Kris Whitcher, a physical education teacher at Orchard Hill, said she will definitely use some of the activities in upcoming gym classes. One of the easiest to replicate was Kameshi Ne Mpuku, or the cat and the rat, a form of tag that originated in the Congo.

"They look like they are having so much fun," Whitcher said. "I think the kids are really enjoying the whole experience. And it's great because they are tying in physical education and geography."

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.