This is a time that a serger would come in handy. Some sergers do a really nice stitch plus trimming at the same time.
You could do up a lot of muslin sandwiches in minutes this way then let the kids at them with fabric markers. Have an adult nearby with a hot iron to heat set the designs.
Hand prints, simple poems, flowers, stick figures of family.
When my youngest was in second grade, I was home room mother. I bought two packages of napkins - one red the other white and spent an evening watching TV and folding the paper napkins into roses. Bought matching construction paper and let the kids design their own mother day cards. Put several sayings on the chalk board that they could use.
I remember one youngster asking what to do with the card since she did not have a mother. I asked her who took care of her and she said her Grandmother so I wrote on the board sayings for a grandmother, aunt, father or other relative in case some of the other children had the same worry.
The children had fun and got very creative.