When I was growing up, metal jungle gym in our backyard made ours most popular play spot in neighbourhood. Built of tubular steel in bright orange and yellow, it was a honeycombed hexagon that provided days of climbing, swinging and acrobatic fun. These days, jungle gym is called a climbing frame, and it may be made of wood, metal or plastic, but fun factor remains same. If you have young children, a climbing frame in back yard or garden can offer hours upon hours of fun recreation and activity.

Climbing frames come in a wide variety of sizes and configurations, and most are customizable with add-ons and accessories. You can start with a simple ladder type climbing frame and add accessories like platforms, ladders, rope climbers, tents, rope bridges and more. One easy way to classify climbing frames is by materials used.

Wooden climbing frames are generally more expensive than either plastic or metal framed climbers. Made of pressure-treated lumber, they use galvanized screws for fastening and often include enclosures, platforms and rope climbing ladders. Wooden climbing frames can last a lifetime if properly cared for, and be used by generation after generation of children. Popular additions to wooden climbing frames are canopies, swings, rope climbers and platforms.

Perhaps you recall swing sets of your childhood - tubular metal in bright colors with swings and a slide, and perhaps a glider. Todays metal climbing frames are next generation. The product of increased safety awareness and health studies, they're designed with fun AND safety in mind. They often include horizontal ladders for climbing and swinging, slides, and bars for more intricate feats of balance and swinging. They're closest to old monkey bars and jungle gyms that we all grew up with.

2. “My Dad knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby he said, 'Is this a joke?” - Ken Dodd

3. “Being touched and caressed, being massaged, is food for infant; food as necessary as minerals, vitamins, and proteins. Deprived of this food, name of which is love, Babies would rather die. And often they do.” - Frederick Leboyer

4. “I always wondered why babies spend so much time sucking their thumbs. Then I tasted "baby food.” - Robert Orben

5. “Did you ever notice that a new baby always seem to bear a striking resemblance to relative who has most money?” - Robert Paul 6. “There are three reasons for breast-feeding: milk is always at right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and cat can't get it.” - Irena Chalmers

7. “You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.” - Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

8. “It sometimes happens, even in best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money.” - Elinor Goulding Smith

9. “Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying. (Put an empty cigarette pack on your nose for a horn and make loud "snort" noises.) I don't know why parents don't do this more often. Usually it makes kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If you're a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until kid is a teenager and he definitely won't have his friends hanging around your house all time.” - P.J. O'Rourke

10. “It is a pleasant thing to reflect upon, and furnishes a complete answer to those who contend for gradual degeneration of human species, that every baby born into world is a finer one than last.” - Charles Dickens