20 Photos of Kids Having Fun in The Hardest Times

The world can be on fire—and kids will still find a way to play in the ashes. These photos don’t sanitize hardship; they prove joy can be stubborn, loud, and weirdly creative when life is at its worst.

#1 Soccer with a taped-up ball in a refugee camp

In photos from Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan, kids sprint after a soccer ball patched with tape, the kind that’s been kicked a thousand times. The “field” is hard dirt with stones, and the goals are whatever two objects can stand up.

The fun is in the seriousness—goalkeeper dives, dramatic arguments, instant forgiveness. Even in displacement, the game makes a temporary country with its own rules.

Look closely and you’ll see the camp behind them, but their eyes stay on the ball. For a few minutes, the future shrinks to one perfect pass.

#2 Jump-rope on a bombed-out street

In images shot in Aleppo, Syria, girls jump rope in front of shattered concrete and rebar that looks like exposed bones. The rope is thin, the rhythm is exact, and the laughter hits like something you weren’t expecting to hear there.

The contrast is the whole photo—bright movement against a backdrop that refuses to look away. Each landing kicks up a little dust, like punctuation.

It’s not a “cute” scene; it’s defiant. The game says, “We’re still here,” without needing a single word.

#3 A tire swing hanging from a burned tree

Photographs from post-wildfire towns in California show a tire swing tied to a blackened branch, still usable after the flames passed. The tire is soot-streaked, the rope is frayed, and the tree looks like it should be done.

Kids push anyway, higher than seems safe, testing the world to see what survived. The squeak of rubber becomes the soundtrack of rebuilding.

It’s a tiny amusement park made from leftovers. In the frame, destruction is real—but so is the forward motion.

#4 Puddle-stomping in floodwater

In photos from Pakistan’s 2022 floods, children splash through brown floodwater like it’s a swimming pool, not a disaster zone. The waterline climbs up doorframes in the background, but the foreground is pure chaos and giggles.

There’s always one kid who commits fully—big stomps, huge spray, arms thrown wide. The camera catches that split-second where hardship can’t compete with momentum.

It’s complicated to look at, which is why it holds you. Play doesn’t erase danger; it just refuses to wait for perfect conditions.

#5 Chalk drawings on a ration line wall

In photographs from food distribution sites in Caracas, Venezuela, kids cover blank concrete with chalk hearts, cartoon faces, and crooked rainbows. Behind them, adults queue with bags and documents, watching the minutes crawl.

The drawings turn a wall into a window—somewhere else, somewhere kinder. Chalk is temporary, which almost makes it more honest.

By the time the line moves, the wall looks like a small festival happened. The kids leave color behind like proof they passed through.

#6 Homemade kites above a tent city

Images from Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, show kites made from plastic bags and thin sticks, wobbling but airborne. The sky is open even when everything on the ground is crowded.

Kids run between shelters, eyes up, arms pumping, treating wind like a teammate. The kite’s tail—often strips of cloth—flickers like a victory flag.

What makes these photos work is the perspective: the camera follows the kite first, then you notice where it’s flying. Hope is literally above the frame of daily survival.

#7 Marbles on cracked pavement during a blackout

In blackout-era photos from Beirut, Lebanon, kids crouch in a circle, flicking marbles that glint in weak light. The street is dim, generators hum somewhere off-frame, and the game becomes its own lamp.

Their focus is intense—thumbs poised, shoulders hunched, rules negotiated mid-round. It’s quiet fun, the kind that fits inside uncertainty.

The camera catches the tiny sparkle of glass against gray ground. When power disappears, play gets smaller and sharper.

#8 Cardboard sledding down a rubble pile

After earthquakes in Haiti and Turkey, photographers captured kids sliding down dirt and debris on flattened cardboard. What should be a hazard becomes, in their hands, a hill.

The photos are all motion blur and open mouths—gravity doing the entertaining for free. Someone always wipes out and immediately tries again.

It’s not about ignoring the rubble; it’s about reassigning it. For one afternoon, the pile stops being a symbol and becomes a playground.

#9 Balloon volleyball in an evacuation shelter

In images from evacuation shelters after Japan’s 2011 tsunami, children bat a balloon back and forth between folding cots and stacked boxes. The balloon is light enough to float, forgiving enough to keep the rally alive.

Every hit gets a cheer because the point isn’t winning—it’s keeping it in the air. Adults nearby look up from paperwork just to watch a little normal happen.

The shelter stays a shelter, but the balloon turns it into a gym for five minutes. That’s the magic: cheap, soft, and shared.

#10 Soap-bubble storms in a tent doorway

In photos from UNICEF-supported spaces in South Sudan, kids blow soap bubbles from plastic wands, filling a tent doorway with floating spheres. The background is dust and heat; the foreground is shimmer.

Bubbles don’t care about borders or shortages—they show up and pop on schedule. Kids chase them like they’re catching wishes.

It’s visually impossible to look away: sunlight, iridescence, small hands reaching. The moment lasts seconds, which is exactly why it matters.

#11 A birthday “cake” made from bread and a candle

In photographs from Sarajevo during the siege and in later conflict zones, families improvise birthdays with bread “cakes” and a single candle. Kids still close their eyes for the wish, still smile like it counts.

The photo tension sits in the details: thin portions, thick love, a candle flame that feels too brave. Someone claps anyway.

Celebration doesn’t need a bakery; it needs witnesses. The image lands because the ritual survives even when the ingredients don’t.

#12 Skipping stones in a polluted canal

In photos from industrial outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, kids skip stones across a canal that adults call unsafe and unusable. The water is dull, but the arcs are clean and satisfying.

The game is physics, competition, and bragging rights all at once. Each successful skip earns a shout that echoes off corrugated metal.

The camera freezes the stone mid-flight, giving the canal a temporary elegance. Sometimes fun is just insisting the world still obeys rules.

#13 Paper airplanes in a war-damaged classroom

Images from schools in Ukraine show kids folding paper airplanes at desks with cracked windows taped in Xs. The chalkboard is there, the textbooks are there, but attention has clearly moved to flight.

They launch across the room, tracking the glide like it’s a mission. Even teachers, caught in the frame, struggle not to smile.

It’s a small rebellion against fear: making something that goes forward. The airplane is a promise with creases.

#14 Laughing on a rooftop during an air-raid pause

In photos from Kyiv and Kharkiv, children are seen on rooftops during brief lulls, playing tag between vents and laundry lines. Sirens create the schedule, but kids fill the gaps with speed.

The rooftop gives them sky, space, and a feeling of being above it all—until the next alert. The laughter looks almost surreal against the tension.

These images hit because they’re time-stamped by danger. Fun becomes a sprint you take whenever the world lets you breathe.

#15 Playing “store” with empty bottles after a shortage

Photographs from Havana, Cuba, show kids lining up empty bottles and jars like products, trading leaves and buttons as “money.” The setup mimics the adult world, but the mood is pure theater.

They practice customer voices, pretend to scan items, argue over prices they invented. Scarcity turns into a script they can control.

The photo works because it’s both funny and painfully smart. Kids absorb reality—and then remake it so they can win for once.

#16 Cricket with a plank bat in a drought-struck village

In pictures from drought-hit areas of Maharashtra, India, boys play cricket with a bat cut from scrap wood and a ball wrapped in cloth. The pitch is dusty, the stumps are sticks, and the rules flex as needed.

A big hit sends everyone sprinting, kicking up a cloud that hangs like smoke. The fielder’s bare feet are part of the story.

What stays with you is the commitment: full-body swings, dramatic catches, loud debates. Joy doesn’t require equipment—just agreement.

#17 Racing toy cars carved from sandals

In photos from rural Kenya and Uganda, kids push toy cars made from old flip-flops and bottle caps, steering with wire. The “track” is a rutted path, and the pit crew is whoever can run fastest.

They build, fix, race, crash, and rebuild—engineering as entertainment. The toys look rough, but they move with surprising grace.

The camera loves these scenes because invention is visible. The hardship is real, yet creativity is louder.

#18 Dancing in line for water

In images from Cape Town’s water-crisis era and from settlements in Nairobi, kids dance while waiting at communal taps with jerrycans. The line is long, but rhythm shortens it.

Someone starts a chant, someone else copies a move, and suddenly the wait becomes a stage. Even adults crack a smile when the beat catches.

It’s one of the clearest examples of joy as a tool. The body turns boredom and stress into something survivable.

#19 Snowball fights outside a damaged apartment block

In winter photos from Grozny in the 1990s and later from eastern Ukraine, kids throw snowballs in courtyards framed by scarred buildings. Snow makes everything look softer, which feels like a trick—and also a gift.

The fight has rules: alliances form fast, betrayals faster. The best photos catch the mid-throw grin, the instant before impact.

Snow turns ruins into a playground without asking permission. The scene is normal for a heartbeat, and that’s the point.

#20 A beach day made from a plastic basin

In photos from informal settlements in Manila, Philippines, kids sit in a plastic washbasin filled with water, splashing like they’re at the ocean. The “beach” is a concrete alley, and towels are whatever cloth is clean enough.

They invent waves with their hands and scream when the water sloshes over the rim. The whole setup is tiny, but the joy isn’t.

This is the image that lingers because it’s so simple it hurts. Fun doesn’t wait for permission—it gets a basin and starts now.