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)

In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

A model stands in a light backstage after presenting the collection by Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina at The Russian State Library, one of the three national libraries of Russia, the largest library in the country, largest in Europe, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Cuban actor Ana de Armas seen attending Bond: No Time To Die – world film premiere afterparties on September 28, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

Arisa Trew of Australia competes during the women's skateboarding park final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, August 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

English actress Helen Flanagan early July 2023 has been mum-shamed by followers after sharing sеxy snaps in her bra. The mum-of-three, 32, enjoyed a cuppa in her bathroom and unbuttoned her pyjama top to reveal her cleavage. (Photo by hjgflanagan/Instagram)

American actress Elizabeth Banks in the first decade of December 2023 shows off her lacy ensemble. (Photo by Elizabethbanks/Instagram)

A teenager reacts as she receives a shot of the Sinovac vaccine for COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign at a school in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Monday, July 5, 2021. (Photo by Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo)