We made these poppies but used black felt cut in circles and glued in the centre, Abit easier than sewing buttons and the residents were able to do it for me.
We use music and singing alot. Golden Memories Karoke have great DVD's for you to sing along with the resident and more often than not the residents respond and sing with us. Poems and short stories might also break it up. We have a resident that made a constant noise and looked back into her past and found she was religious and will have a 1:1 doing a rosary or saying prayers with her, she joins in. Good luck
*ps there are many other karoke dvds or even try Youtube has alot of music your residents will relate to
Fabric Remembrance Day Poppy