Her hands are crippled with arthritis, so crochet and knitting are out. We've tried family photos but she doesn't remember anyone. She was never into hobbies. She gets so restless and agitated that I think if she had something to occupy her mind it might help.
My mom also loved to fold towels. I brought in a plastic basket of colorful washclothes with varied textures and when she got restless an aide would hand it to her and ask her to fold it.
She loved to sort things. I often dumped out a lot of coins and asked her to sort them, so I could use them in vending machines. And she would sort large beads by color, for the jewelry days. It seemed best when she thought she was doing something useful. I'd bring in a large number of socks and ask her to help with my laundry by sorting them in pairs. This attracted other ladies in the room. Matching socks was a very popular activity!
Many people are content to sit quietly and watch what is going on in the hallways. Not my mother. She needed something to DO at all times. She read the newspaper daily, and staff knew to see that she always had a magazine or two on her wheelchair tray.
Fairly early, my LO, just was not into activities, unless another person was sitting and directing her. There wasn't anything that she could do on her own initiative, (she lost her initiative quite early) once the other person walked away. She would immediately stop coloring, stop folding, just not into it, unless the other person was directing, etc. But, if someone can direct, it can be fun to get items from children's educational section of store or fidget boards/devices online. They are designed to interest dementia patients. They will fit in their lap or on a tray and have zippers, buttons, snaps, velcro, etc. So their hands can stay busy.
My LO enjoyed a toy piano, dolls, toys that talk when you press a button. (Only used when we or staff supervised though.)
Good of you to try and find activities for your mom. I find this list and hope it will have some good suggestions. I don't know if your mom would be interested in using an iPad. I wonder if it was loaded up with games and different activities if that might help.
https://www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_101_activities.asp
https://www.agingcare.com/search.aspx?searchterm=activities for dementia patients.
When she gets restless, try playing some of her favorite music.
Can she use her hands at all? Could she play dominoes? There are triangular dominoes and I think they're a bit easier to hold onto.
What about reading, or listening to books on tape?