A young Iraqi shepherdess cools down buffaloes in wastewater filling the dried-up Diyala river which was a tributary of the Tigris, in the Al-Fadiliyah district east of Baghdad, on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

A competitor competes during the Hortobagy Hobby Horse Cup in Tiszafured, Hungary, on October 26, 2024. (Photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)

A Carlsbad,Calif. police officer turns traffic away as flames leap behind him Wednesday, May 14, 2014, in Carlsbad, Calif. Weather conditions that at least temporarily calmed allowed firefighters to gain ground early Wednesday on a pair of wildfires that forced thousands of residents to leave their homes. (Photo by AP Photo)

A vendor (C) cuts slaughtered dogs for sale at his roadside stall in Duong Noi village, outside Hanoi December 16, 2011. While animal rights activists have condemned eating dog meat as cruel treatment of the animals, it is still an accepted popular delicacy for some Vietnamese, as well in some other Asian countries. Duong Noi is well-known as a dog-meat village, where hundreds of dogs are killed each day for sale as popular traditional food. Dog-eating as a custom is rooted in Vietnam and was developed as a result of poverty. One kilogram of dog meat costs about 130,000 dongs ($6.2). (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Two children jumping through a water hydrant's shower on a New York street. They have come from a neighbouring co-educational playgroup organised by the city's Police Department. (Photo by Orlando/Getty Images). 1950

“Freestyle skiing is an acrobatic form of technical and aerial skiing. It is organized into a number of different disciplines”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Freeskier Chris Booth of Australia launches off a drop during the World Heli Challenge freestyle day in backcountry at Minaret Station on July 31, 2011 in Wanaka, New Zealand. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“Diver in Magic Kingdom”. Green Lake (Grüner See) is located Tragöss Austria. In spring snowmelt raises the lake level about 10 meters. This phenomenon, which lasts only a few weeks covering the hiking trails, meadows, trees. The result is magical to watch diving landscapes. Photo location: Grüner See at Tragöss, Austria. (Photo and caption by Marc Henauer/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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)