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)

Workers polish a snow sculpture ahead of the 16th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, December 22, 2014. The 16th Harbin Ice and Snow World will be officially opened on January 5, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

14th Place. Leaf roller weevil (Byctiscus betulae) lateral view. Image Stacking, Reflected Light 3.7X (objective lens magnification). (Photo by Özgür Kerem Bulur/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2020)

“A huge wasp measuring 2.5 inches in length, visiting the banana tree in my front yard”. (Photo and comment by John Matzick, USA/2013 Sony World Photography Awards via The Atlantic)

FaceResearch.org, a site run by two psychologists at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, features software that can average together faces from thousands of photos. These images purportedly show the average face of women from 40 different nationalities.

Patrick Hausding and Stephan Feck of Germany compete in the men's 3-meter synchro springboard preliminary competition at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. (Photo by David J. Phillip/AP Photo)