The crook and flail were symbols of office for the Egyptian pharaohs. The flail symbolised the pharaoh's role as provider of food for his people while the crook symbolised his role as the shepherd of his people. Here's a quick crook craft you can do with the kids - and we have a flail craft too.
Our crook is quick (and fun) to make out of a sheet of paper!
You will need:
Blue A3 paper
Gold pen
Glue
Instructions:
Cut a large square from blue paper.
Draw a thin gold line along two edges as shown in the photo below.
Lay the square face down with the gold edges away from you and the blue corner towards you. From the corner, roll the square to make a "pole" - a thin cylinder. You will need to glue the end down well.
With your hands, flatten one end and shape it around your wrist until it curves.
Crook and flail depicted in Ancient Egyptian art, with thanks to Jeff Dahl