National Guardsmen are put through riot training in Boston's Commonwealth Armory on Friday, October 18, 1974. Massachusetts Gov. Francis W. Sargent called up the guard to quell school violence, but the city has been relatively calm and the guard has remained in the armories. (Photo by JWG/AP Photo)

People run along a street as rain caused by tropical storm Alberto, the first named storm of 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, falls, in Monterrey, Mexico. on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

People take pictures of their reflections in the decorations of a Christmas tree, at a Christmas fair in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, December 14, 2024. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)

Pop singer and composer Shakira performs during her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran”, or Women Don't Cry Anymore, world tour at the Metropolitano stadium in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, Thursday, February 20, 2025. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

A firefighter is seen next to flames while working to extinguish a wildfire burning in Gondomar, northern Portugal on July 29, 2025. Almost 2,000 firefighters battled on July 29, 2025 to contain forest blazes across Portugal that have led to almost the whole country being put on high alert for fires. Ten major fires blazed with two in the north and three in the centre of the country causing most concern. (Photo by Carlos Costa/AFP Photo)

A cyclist rides past a tumulus tomb in Gyeongju, South Korea on November 1, 2025. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

In a simpler time all a child or an adult needed to enjoy the outdoors was a ball and a stick. Or maybe an old tire tied to a high branch to fashion a swing. And the only instruction given to children was to “be home before dark”. Now there are iPads and computers and television screens and shrinking safe public spaces. But despite the distractions and limitations of space, these images show the charm of kicking a ball or skipping rope endures. Sometimes with modifications as a nod to changing times. Here: in this Saturday, June 20, 2015 photo, a boy runs while playing with a motorcycle wheel in Samugari, Ayacucho, Peru. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)