School project help

I'm going to teach a knitting class at our school for Exploremore Day. The classes will be about 6-8 students from 3rd to 5th grade with about 40 minutes per class.

I'm thinking a group project that each class can add on to that can be presented to the school to hang and display. Does anyone have any suggestions to describe? I can't get beyond a holey-looking narrow wall hanging with some trinkets attached, which is so 70's. The kids won't have enough time to complete a square for something like a quiltish item.

I'm open to absolutely any idea whatsoever!!!

Some smallish squares could be joined together to make a baby blanket, which could be presented to a local shelter or hospital.

Kids could also make potholders, cell phone holders, little purses, long snaky belt/sashes. Scarves would take more time, but they could also be made with joined-together squares and donated (though now they'd be out of season). Maybe child-sized chemo caps to donate?

I can't think of anything nifty to give to the school. Maybe knitting strips to form the letters of the name of your school, which could then be displayed somewhere? Or a (washable) pillow or cushion for the nurse's office (or child-sized blanket, for that matter)?

Our local animal shelter takes "cat mats," 18-inch squares they can use in the cat cages that the cats can cuddle up on.

This is a great project for learners because the cats don't care if the knitting is very good or what color it is.

Could you do a "relay knitting" project for this type of mat?

Cast on 6-8 sets of needles in different colors. Let the first batch of kids pick a color and knit, and then hand it off to a kid in the incoming group. Let the incoming kid pick a new color to add on to make a kind of crazy stripe pattern.

If they didn't make the mats long enough, you could join a couple together.

Then you could find some stuffed toy cats and position them on the mats for display.

Thanks for the ideas. That "cat mat" concept sounds like something that could be accomplished in a small amount of time by a lot of kids who have never knitted before.