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)

Guards wait for the start of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's funeral at Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mosque east of Cairo, Egypt on February 26, 2020. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

A man from Dinka tribe holds his AK-47 rifle in front of cows in a Dinka cattle herders camp near Rumbek, capital of the Lakes State in central South Sudan December 14, 2013. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Yala national park, Sri Lanka. Category: Action. “The daylight was fading and I was scanning the bush for a leopard. Then, I saw this garden lizard and a common bronzeback snake in the road. When the snake struck, the lizard performed amazing acrobatics to avoid it. The snake didn’t enjoy the extra attention from the crowd of jeeps. The distraction gave the lizard the chance to live another day”. (Photo by Sajith Buddikha Withanage/National Geographic Traveller UK)

Irish television personality, presenter and model Maura Higgins early February 2023 looked sensational as she stripped to a black mesh bodysuit. (Photo by Iulia David)

Netherlands' Joosje Burg, left, reacts after Argentina's Agustina Gorzelany's stick catches her on the face during the women's semifinal field hockey match between Argentina and Netherlands at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, August 7, 2024, in Colombes, France. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)

Andrea Petkovic of Germany in action against Sara Errani of Italy during day one of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at the Caja Magica on May 3, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

A federal agent removes mud from a house damaged by a mudslide in Xaltepec, Mexico, Monday, August 8, 2016. Mountain communities in two Mexican states are recovering from weekend mudslides that killed dozens during heavy rains brought by remnants of Hurricane Earl. (Photo by Pablo Spencer/AP Photo)