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)

A lady wearing a mask feeds pigeons in St James' Park, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 5, 2020. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

A woman is arrested during a mass gathering protest organised by the group called “UK Freedom Movement”, in Hyde Park in London as the country is in lockdown to help stop the spread of coronavirus, Saturday, May 16, 2020. The group claims that the coronavirus lockdown is illegal. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

A woman raises her fist during events to mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves elsewhere in the United States, amid nationwide protests against racial inequality, in the Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, June 19, 2020. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift eyes are caught in a photographer's flash as she arrives on the red carpet for the “Billboard Women in Music” event in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 12, 2019. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Prepare yourself for some rib-tickling laughter because the Comedy Wildlife Awards has announced its finalists. Founded by Tanzania-based photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, the aim of the awards is to put a spotlight on wildlife conservation efforts while simultaneously injecting some humour into the world of wildlife photography. Here: Mountains Gorilla is making grimaces, as he came out of the bush after the rain, in Virunga National Park, Rwanda. (Photo by Josef Friedhuber/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards/Barcroft Media)

School teachers and staff members take part during an active shooter training at James I. O'Neill High School in Highland Falls, New York, U.S., December 12, 2017. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A pod of white pelicans, one of the largest birds in Canada and the US, are seen on the shore of the Chapala lagoon in Cojumatlan de Regules, Mexico, on January 28, 2022. White pelicans travel thousands of kilometers migrating from the cold temperatures of North America. (Photo by Ulises Ruiz/AFP Photo)