no water flow equals mosquitos out the whazoo

a bog isnt exciting for kids, just a pile of wet dirt...well i guess that could be fun and dirty

any chance of making it deeper??? less chance of it running dry and makes it harder for critters to make a meal out of your fish and/or frogs

could dig a trench and put some underground cable for power or do what some people do...extension cords..but that wouldnt be up to electrical code. and you have to worry about shorting out when it rains or fire if any of the wire is exposed

okay then - guess I want a pond - as for mosquitos - I thought the little fish would eat the larvae? If not, guess I could put mosquito dunks in just like I do in my bird baths?

Mosquito fish would probably take care of the mosquito larvae. They are used by mosquito control programs.
I'm sure that your grandchildren will love whatever you decide to go with. What a wonderful thing for a grandparent to do.
You could make part of it a bog (or marsh) and part pond and separate the two sections with rocks. It would be tricky keeping mosquitos under control on the bog side if you had shallow standing water, but if it was just wet mud you could still grow cool plants and not have to worry about the mosquitos.
The page below has a picture of another setup that you could try.
Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: pond

"a bog isnt exciting for kids"

Darn! I'll have to let my kids know. ;o)

Mosquitos should not be a problem in a healthy system. Gambusia (mosquito fish) are a good solution if you need them, goldfish eat mosquitos too. Toads, frogs and other amphibians work as well. So do dragon, damselfly and other insect larvae. A pond might be cooler for kids because you can have fish and frogs but in full sun and only 18" be sure to keep nutrient levels low and provide some source of shade or, with no circulation, the water will become oxygen deprived and too hot for fishies and froggies. If pond, be sure to plant oxygenating plants and water temps would have to stay below about 100º for goldfish.

Sounds like a perfect spot/hole for a CP bog. That would be just for plants and not support fish and frogs.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what a bog is. Now you can have the peat bog and grow specalized plants that thrive in that acidic soil or you can have a bog with normal soil and grow moisture loving plants that are hardy in your zone.
But a bog isn't going to have mosquitos because a real bog doesn't have any standing water. It has super-saturated soil and all the water is BELOW the surface.

If you have standing water it's a SWAMP not a bog.

I have built several bogs and there are two things that you MUST DO.
1. Do NOT poke any holes in your liner or you are just building an in ground flower pot. These plants need water not drainage.

2. Put a stand pipe into the bog. That consists of a pvc pipe that sticks up out of the ground and has a garden hose connector on the top. It should have a 90 degree elbow on the bottom and at least 1 foot of pvc pipe running at 90 degrees inside a piece ofplastic drain pipe for a septic system that runs the length of the bog.
You can find these pipes at Home Depot or other large hardware stores. They are white and have lots of holes drilled in them.
The holes should go DOWN.

This way you can water your bog from the bottom just like a natural bog. You just hook up the hose and let it run until water starts seeping out from the surface.

What's the mix and what do you grow in that setup Webfeet?

What's the mix? Well in the first one I used sand, potting soil and the dirt that came out of the hole. After that I just used gravel and the dirt that came out of the hole.
Plants? Gunnera, Joe Pye, celery (for the woody plant it becomes), asparagus(becomes a beautiful fern), Chinese water chestnuts, jalapeno peppers (believe it or not),pennywort.
Anything that likes dampness will grow there. Any kind of iris or marginal plants.

Greetings from Mountain Lake Biological Research Station!

I finally had some time to kill up here so I couldn't help but respond to this one...

First of all, i agree with webfeeet on one point, bogs by nature are moist, but not covered in water. If they are covered in water they'd could be a swamp or marsh (depending on whether there are trees in there or not.) As to the definition of "Bog", since I come from an ecological perspective I only use the word "bog" to describe an acidic sphagnum type garden I prefer to call other things wet meadows, marshes, fens or whatever terminology would be most specific; however, many people commonly use the term "bog" to refer to any wet place. Kinda makes it complicated doesn't it? Gosh i sure wish we could get that FAQ up...

Anyway... to answer the original question. You've got lots of options, but I'd probably rule out a pond with fish unless you plan to get a pump and all that; however, if you do make a little pond type area then frogs will probably find it on their own. If you create some shade and shelter around the pond then the frogs will be fine, or will simply move on after the conditions no longer suit them. I've even used 1.5 foot circular plastic planters as mini-ponds and you'd be surprised how much wildlife they attract. I even supported a healthy population of frogs.

All this said, being the bog forum and all, i should mention that a peat bog is simple, easy to maintain, requires little water (if done right) and VERY inexpensive. I've built them with less than $20.00 in materials. Best of all, you can keep Carnivorous plants like venus flytraps or pitcherplants. All you need is one part sand and two parts peat*, and plastic sheeting which can be found at any hardware store. You'll need to provide for drainage, but if you are in the middle of a drought, I'd not worry about that right now. It is easy to create drainage after the fact. Webfeeet is right though, that whatever kind of "bog" you do (if you do a bog), that the water level should rarely (if ever) be higher than the soil surface.

Yarthkin

*I usually do 50/50 but I think her situation might work better with a mix that holds more water.

I didn't read most of the post, I just saw Mosquitoe fish and had to comment. if you want to have small fish around for little people to study DO NOt get mosquitoe fish, they will eat anything small, you will end up with a monoculture of mosquitoe fish, much better to get some small nativew minnows or sticlebacks to deal with the mosquitoe problem, also if you are anywere near a local watersource and get a flooding rain adnn they get out then you risk billions of dollars of ecological damage.

Sounds like to me that if you want your grandkids to study fish and frogs then you will have to have a pond of some kind. You did not mention if you are in the city or in the country. But you indicated you have a well so I take it to mean that you are in the country. Eastern Oklahoma??
If Eastern then you may be able to get the soil tamped down hard and tight so that it will hold water for awhile. That way a kid could walk into the pond and explore.
Tamping the soil down really does work with the right soil and in Eastern Oklahoma the soil seems quite suitable.

However, there is one snag if you are out in the country and less so but possible in the city: moccasins! These and other water snakes tend to be aggressive and have no problem attacking movement of any kind in water. Also if there natural rivers or creeks within 20 miles of you then if you are in the country and there are stands of woods then you are inviting animal guests into your yard with a pool. And with fish and/or frogs will come predators.

The "bog" habitat is really suited for just growing plants and unless your interest is keenly on the plants may just prove to become a wet spot in the yard that gets filled in later because your dog gets stuck in the mush! At least at 18" deep it shouldn't swallow up your pets or your grandkids!!!

If you wish something for teaching your grandkids about fish and frogs then perhaps you have an unused wash house or smoke house that you can convert into a kids hang-out and to which you could run electricity (a heavy duty extension cord, etc.) and set up some aquariums that will have different native fish and frogs in them as well as terrariums for toads and the nicer snakes like garter snakes. and you could have books on nature and building natural things and then maybe they could help you plant or stock your pool??????? If that is what you decide on.
Make it a joint venture with them as to what they would be most interested in.

Here is a link that I just googled for you. It has a bunch of links to information regarding education of kids in things natural. Take a look see as I am sure that there is plenty there to provide you with more information on the approaches of teaching children about the natural world.
Click here

Brendan-
Excellent point. Now if only people would stop moving bullfrogs around.
I deplore the introduction of invasive species, but my Peterson Field Guide has Oklahoma solidly in the mosquitofish's native range.
I did not think about the others who might be reading this outside of the SE USA. Darn internet.

Hola- Just placed a goldfish in your pond and you should not have any bugs! around, but if you get more than one fish you would have my problem- too many fish! Luis