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 Pakistani child, whose family was displaced by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, on February 8, 2013. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

Darth Mykolaiovych Vader, who is dressed as the “Star Wars” character Darth Vader, poses for a picture as he dries his mask and helmet with a hairdryer in the bathroom of his apartments in Odessa, Ukraine, December 2, 2015. Darth Vader was bent on galactic domination, but his Ukrainian namesake enjoys more mundane pursuits: local politics, walking the family dog and a spot of embroidery. The Ukrainian citizen, who has changed his name to Darth Mykolaiovych Vader, ran for the post of local mayor in October, his political backers dressed as Stormtroopers. In his trademark black outfit, he is a regular sight around Odessa, a major port city on southern Ukraine's Black Sea coast. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Volunteers carry an idol of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, in a pond for its immersion during the ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India, September 18, 2015. During the festival, the idols will be taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing, and will be immersed in a river or the sea in accordance with the Hindu faith. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)

Members of the Washington Wizards Dancers dance during a timeout against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Capital One Arena in Washington, District of Columbia on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

Members of the Indian Army display aerobatic Taekwondo skills during the 11th Reunion and 262nd Anniversary of Army Service Crops in Bangalore, India, 09 December 2022. The 11th ASC Reunion & 262nd Corps Day will be held at Army Service Corps (ASC) Centre & College on 8th and 9th of December 2022, to showcase the military capabilities. Indian Army Service Corps, established in 1760, is an arm of the Indian Army handling logistic support. (Photo by Jagadeesh N.V./EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A girl plays a jump rope game at a school housing residents displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

Balinese children take part in a traditional mud bath known as Mebuug-buugan, a day after Nyepi – the “Day of Silence”, aimed at neutralising bad traits in Kedonganan village on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP Photo)