A kingfisher ignores the “no fishing” sign after catching food at Teddesley Park in Staffordshire, England, on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Photo by Stuart Brock/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Russian artist Maria Gazanova (L) works on her "The Alive Painting" art work during the Art Krasnoyarsk annual festival in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia November 4, 2015. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A hot air ball balloon floats past while people stand in line to climb the Pyramid of the Sun and welcome the spring equinox in the pre-hispanic city of Teotihuacan, on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico, March 20, 2016. Spring equinox in Teotihuacán is an annual event which takes place around the 20th and 21st of March at the pre-Hispanic site of Teotihuacán, Mexico. This event is mirrored by other similar events in other pre-Hispanic sites such as Chichén Itzá and Malinalco, Mexico State. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

Model Kendall Jenner poses on the red carpet as she arrives for the screening of the film “Mal de pierres” (From the Land of the Moon) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 15, 2016. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

Carlos Melendez prepares to feed his pet squirrel “Colita” in downtown San Salvador January 29, 2015. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

A model walks off stage in the backstage area during Frankie's Bikinis show at Mercedes Benz Swim Fashion Week in Miami, July 18, 2014. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

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)

An Iraqi soldier stands guard as a pipeline burns in the background after an explosion 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, Iraq, Monday, February 11, 2008. (Photo by Bassem Daham/AP Photo)