In this photograph taken on April 28, 2018, Afghan children work at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (Photo by Noorullah Shirzada/AFP Photo)

Hannah Maule-ffinch, “Wild Swimmers”, 2020, Hinksey Lake, Oxfordshire. Category: People. The series Wild Swimmers explores how humans are strongest when coming together in the face of adversity. In this photo, Emma and Emma have an amazing bond and friendship, built through their daily ritual of cold swimming in often bracing conditions. (Photo by Hannah Maule-ffinch/Earth Photo 2022)

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 new EVR system which allows the recording of television programmes which can then be watched at the owner's discretion. The new Teleplayer has been produced in partnership with Rank Bush Murphy Ltd and EVR and has enormous potential. 21st September 1970. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

An officer from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife gets ready to tranquillize a bear in Pasadena, California, U.S., August 20, 2021. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

A man pours fake fuel on the face of a protester as they perform at a demonstration against the fossil fuel industry during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 7, 2021. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A Russian soldier takes part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region in southern Russia, Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Russian and U.S. negotiators will sit down for talks early next year to discuss Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

A goose walks on the road as Belarusian villagers take part in the Yurya religious rite to bring a good harvest in the village of Lutki, some 270 km south of Minsk, on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)