First place, The Beauty of Plants. “There are many stages of lotus growth on display at the Aquatic Gardens, but to come across twotwisted dancing stems of nelumbo nucifera was unexpected and quite magical”. (Photo by Kathleen Furey/The Guardian)

A woman walks in front of an art installation made of artificial fruits and vegetables during the “Moscow Autumn” festival in central Moscow, September 14, 2015. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

A girl shows a fish she has caught in a bare- hand fish catching contest held in Housangyuan Village of Lyutan Township Wuyi County, east China' s Zhejiang Province, September 23, 2018. People across China hold various activities to celebrate the country' s first Farmers' Harvest Festival, which falls on Sept. 23 this year. (Photo by Zhang Jiancheng/Xinhua News Agency/Barcroft Images)

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)

British singer-songwriter and dancer FKA twigs (R) at Boom Met Gala After Party hosted by FKA Twigs in Manhattan, New York on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this photo provided by Janice Wei, a fountain of lava spews from an eruption of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii, on Monday, February 3, 2025. (Photo by Janice Wei/NPS via AP Photo)

Marry Ousmane, 18, poses outside while wearing her prom dress on May 29, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Marry Ousmane is best friends with Patrice Toussaint and both are seniors at Edward Murrow high school in Brooklyn whose senior prom was canceled due to all schools being closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Toussaint said, “I've been planning for four years. I was going to have a send off party with a barbecue and a red carpet. I was going to have two dresses and wear a crown”. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

A protester poses for a photo in front of a burning barricade in Barcelona, Spain on February 17, 2021 as a protest following the imprisonment of rapper “Pablo Hasel” convicted to jail for glorifying terrorism and insulting Spain's former king in lyrics turns into riots for a second night. (Photo by Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)