Hey hey @adalger, it's really great this project you are going to do. Some time ago I made a small anthill with recycled materials to study the species Odontomachus bauri, I even made a small post in Spanish to show the progress, it was really nice to see how the queen I got could reproduce successfully, I had more than 100 ants in the anthill, and then I gave it to my old entomology teacher. It is necessary to be well informed of the species of ant that is going to be introduced in the anthill, since some have certain requirements to reproduce successfully, although always or more important is to maintain the humidity and to maintain them isolated of the light, since they are photosensitive insects, if there is too much light in the anthill they get stressed, I will be pending to see the advances of your great anthill, everything will go great, and sure that your son will enjoy this project. greetings.