A beloved piece of playground equipment is turning 100 years old. The history of the jungle gym and monkey bars is full of weird and and delightful twists, spanning from Japan to suburban Chicago.

LITTLE ROCK — Editor’s note: This is the first part of a series about training to play on monkey bars. Mommy see monkey do, Mommy try ... Mommy fail. Lynn Husam, 41, was at the playground with ...