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 boy looks back while he and another boy play on a Syrian military tank, destroyed during fighting with the Rebels, in the Syrian town of Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Sunday, September 2, 2012. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

A woman jumps over a puddle as she crosses a street after a torrential downpour in the South Beach part of Miami, July 18, 2014. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

In this photograph taken on August 25, 2016, an Afghan shepherd watches over his sheep as they graze on the outskirts of Herat. (Photo by Aref Karimi/AFP Photo)

Cloud inversion taken at Sunrise in Mam Tor, Derbyshire, UK on August 30, 2016. (Photo by David Zdanowicz/REX Shutterstock)

A changing of the honor guard ceremony by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia on May 29, 2020. (Photo by Vladimir Gerdo/TASS)

People huddle to get on a bus after the government has eased restrictions on public transport amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 4, 2020. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

A fire show lit up Mayfair on May 10, 2022 to celebrate The Ivy Asia arriving at its newest central London location. Reservations have now opened for the new dining venue in North Audley Street ahead of its launch on May 31. (Photo by Handout via PA Wire Press Association)