Keeping Mom occupied - need ideas?

I should have mentioned Mom has vascular dementia, ambulatory, and quite child-like now.

Could you think of what you might use to give to a child to play with?

Do you think that interaction or doing something together might stimulate her?

I don't recall if the Alzheimer's website has activity suggestions but you might try that.

Do any of the neighbors have pets they could bring over? Perhaps just petting a dog might allow her to focus her attention.

Wish I could think of something to offer but I can't; it is a difficult and challenging situation.

There are things that can occupy a dementia patient, but they are limited most of the time. They may color, but with supervision and only for a few minutes. They may watch a tv show, but that might only occupy them for so long. They may hold a doll, but may not put much thought into it.

From my observations, activities the dementia patients engage in are often done only with the direct lead or instruction from another. They aren't inclined to stay engaged in the activity on their own accord. Even if I am trying to keep my cousin engaged in an activity, she is prone to lose focus and withdraw. The mental capacity is just not there.
Of course. each person is different, but I think that sometimes our expectations of what they are capable of might be too grand. We are imaging how we might seek mental stimulation. I have to step back and really examine what they are capable of. I have to keep readjusting my expectation.

Do you have a smart tv? I would find a youtube channel that plays funny, short pet videos, one show my mom loved was America's Funniest Home Videos that are almost always short little clips of lots of funny different situations. Because they are short it kept mom entertained. It seems there is a cable station that plays old shows back to back. Record some on your DVR to play over and over and over again!