A project i usually recommend is a time tracking web app. It has a nice mix of basic CRUD operations, Browser APIs and date and time manipulations for someone starting out. I also personally find it much more interesting than a to-do app
It is also easily extensible when you deal with multiuser projects, authentication, teams, billing rates, browser extensions, screenshots, screen records, hybrid mobile apps, hybrid desktop apps... it goes on.
It is also a great project to experiment with UI/UX design because i am yet to meet a dev or designer who fully loves the time tracking solution they use, and getting some market research experience will always help
