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)

Lightning strikes during a storm over the Ionian Sea in Calabria, Italy on June 27, 2016. (Photo by Alfonso Di Vincenzo/Pacific Press/Rex Features)

Policemen detain topless activists of women's rights group Femen, who stage a performance during a protest against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the government while marking the Day of Dignity and Freedom near the presidential administration headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine November 21, 2017. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

An undated handout image provided by UNICEF Germany on 20 December 2016 shows the “UNICEF Photo of the Year 2016” by Iranian freelance photographer Arez Ghaderi. Ghaderi won the first prize for his picture of a girl in a makeshift tent city in the Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, it was announced at a ceremony in Berlin, Germany on 20 December 2016. (Photo by Ariz Ghaderi/EPA/UNICEF Deutschland)

Fireworks are seen above the Washington Monument and the White House at the conclusion of the final day of the Republican National Convention on August 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence accepted the nomination as the Republican candidates for a second term in the White House. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Zimbabwe University students run away from police during a protest outside the magistrates courts in Harare, Monday, September 14, 2020. Police broke up the protest and arrested some students demonstrating in support of a university union leader who was making a court appearance following his arrest for protesting against human rights abuses in the country. (Photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo)

A women drink outside the disco bar on September 18, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. As there have been no recorded cases of community transmission in Wuhan since May, life for residents is returning to normal. (Photo by Getty Images)

Models present creations from the SGM ART MOUSE JI during the China Fashion Week in Beijing, China, 25 October 2020. The fashion​ event runs from 24 October to 01 November. (Photo by Wu Hong/EPA/EFE)