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)

The elephant cow Omysha dives under water in its enclosure at the Zoo in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday, February 3, 2021. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/Keystone via AP Photo)

A Nepalese woman offers prayers to the setting Sun on the bank of Bagmati River during the Chhath Puja festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, November 10, 2021. During Chhath, an ancient Hindu festival, rituals are performed to thank the Sun God for sustaining life on earth. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a Red Army uniform dances at the Bund at midnight on June 1, 2022 in Shanghai, China. Shanghai will fully restore the normal order of production and living starting from Wednesday. (Photo by Zheng Xianzhang/VCG via Getty Images)

A hand reaches out to touch a dinosaur during the “Jurassic Quest” experience at Broward County Convention Center on July 08, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Great White Pelicans eats fish in the Mishmar HaSharon reservoir, Israel, Wednesday, November 4, 2015. Thousands of Pelicans stop in the reservoir for food provided by the Israeli nature reserves authority as they make their way to Africa. (Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

Some bats in the forested area of Guapiles, Costa Rica, 21 April 2020. (Photo by Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA/EFE)

A crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), also known as the forest fox, wood fox, or maikong, is seen in the wild in the municipality of Guasca, some 50 km from Bogota, on May 16, 2020. (Photo by Diana Sánchez/AFP Photo)