This is outside the scope of this thread but you can certainly make larger grids. Alternatively I would look at the 32×32 and 64×32 panels here:
http://www.adafruit.com/categories/327
Adafruit also links to a couple libraries that will allow you to play animations. The brightness is no where near Game Frame/NeoPixels/ws2812b but it will be the cheaper and faster route for a school project.