--- title: "Crayon resist for kids: the wax and watercolour trick" description: "Crayon resist (wax resist) for kids: draw with crayon, paint watercolour over it and the drawing appears. Plus the white-crayon secret message." source_name: "Game Tailors" source_url: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/en/techniques/crayon-resist/" site_home: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/" source_description: "The drawing app where the paper is real. No ads, no accounts, no data collected." locale: "en" legal: - "Game Tailors · Schieweg 15Y-40, 2627 AN Delft (NL)" - "KvK 92437702 · VAT NL866044474B01" - "info@gametailors.com · +31 6 4227 5919" copyright: "© 2026 Game Tailors" published_at: "2026-10-24T00:48:18.687Z" modified_at: "2026-10-24T05:05:41.983Z" --- # Crayon resist for kids: the wax and watercolour trick ## Paint over it and the hidden drawing appears Draw with crayon, then paint watercolour over the top. The paint soaks into the bare paper but beads up on the crayon, because wax repels water. A white crayon drawing stays invisible until the paint reveals it, like a secret message. [Play in your browser]()[Do it for real](<#for-real>) - Ages 3\+ - 20 minutes - Low mess ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing blue watercolour over paper, revealing a white crayon fish and bubbles.]() ## Quick facts Age 3\+ Time 20 minutes Mess Low Adult needed Only to set out the water and paints You need \(cost\) Wax crayons \(with a white one\), watercolours, paper: cheap On screen / for real Both ## What you'll make A painting with crayon lines that shine through the paint: fish under a blue sea, a spider’s web on a dark night, or a secret message that only appears when someone paints over it. It is the same technique as wax resist, and Dutch and Flemish classrooms know it as **wasco en ecoline**, after a wax crayon and a liquid watercolour. ## In Extreme Drawing 1. **Crayon** \(drawing bar\): draw with any colour. The **White** crayon is there for exactly this: a nearly invisible wax drawing. 2. **Watercolour** \(drawing bar\): paint over it. The paint beads up on the wax and hardly takes, so the crayon lines show through and the white drawing appears. 3. **Other wet things over crayon:** **Ink drops** \(Craft\) are held off the wax too; **Water** drops are turned away by the waxed fibres; and **Bleach drops** \(Bathroom\) fade the colour around a crayon line but not under it. 4. **Time → Bake in the oven.** The crayon melts into the paper in smooth, deep colour, and the paper goes slightly see-through where the wax soaked in. **Also try:** soap resist. A drop of **Dish soap** \(Science\) leaves soap in the paper that watercolour avoids, just like wax. Coloured pencils hold a little wax too, so they resist a little. All of this is free; the bar of soap \(Bathroom\) is in the full toolbox. [Play in your browser]() ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing a rainbow watercolour that bleeds into wet paper, with crayons, markers, a paint box and a child's rainbow drawing.]() ## Do it for real **You need** - White paper, the thicker the better \(cartridge or watercolour paper\) - Wax crayons, including a white one \(oil pastels work too\) - Watercolours or liquid watercolour, mixed watery - A big soft brush, a jar of water and some kitchen paper ### Step by step 1. Draw with crayonPress hard: a thick layer of wax resists best. Light, scratchy lines let some paint through. 2. Hide a secretDraw or write something with the white crayon. Look at it from the side: you’ll only see a faint shine. 3. Mix runny paintWatery paint works far better than thick paint, which simply covers the wax. 4. Paint over everythingSweep the brush across the whole page. Don’t scrub over the crayon. 5. Watch it appearThe paint pulls back from the wax and the drawing pops out. Dab beads of paint off the crayon with kitchen paper. 6. Dry it flatLeave it to dry flat; heavy paper buckles less. Safety and clean-up This one is gentle enough for young children, with an adult nearby. Keep crayons out of toddlers’ mouths and use paints labelled non-toxic. Watercolour washes out of most clothes. The melted-crayon look from the app’s oven is a screen thing: melting crayons for real is a job for an adult. ## Variations to try ### Secret messages Write a note in white crayon and hand it to a friend with a brush. The words appear as they paint. ### Autumn spider webs White-crayon webs and leaves under a dark wash: the autumn classic in Dutch schools, often made into paper lanterns. ### Halloween night Ghosts, bats and a moon in white and yellow crayon, then a deep purple or black wash. ### Under the sea Fish, shells and bubbles in bright crayon under a blue-green wash. ## In the app vs on paper ### On screen The paint beads up on every crayon fibre, every time. You can also show what water and bleach do to crayon, and bake the page to melt the wax into the paper. Everything for this technique is free. ### On real paper How well it resists depends on how hard you pressed and how watery the paint is. Beads of paint sit on the wax and need dabbing off. Very wet paper buckles, and a heavy sheet helps. ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing blue watercolour over paper, revealing a white crayon fish and bubbles.]() ## Why the paint slides off the crayon Crayons are made of wax, and wax and water don’t mix. The watery paint slides off the wax and soaks into the paper around it, so the drawing stays bright. **For grown-ups.** Paraffin wax is **hydrophobic** \(water-repelling\): water’s surface tension stops it wetting the waxed fibres, so watercolour beads up and runs off onto the bare, absorbent paper. A heavy wax layer seals the fibres; light strokes only coat the raised tooth of the paper, so paint gets into the valleys between. The same principle is behind batik \(hot wax on fabric\) and decorated pysanky eggs, and soap in the paper resists for a similar reason. ## Try next: what do you predict? ### Pencil or crayon? Does a coloured pencil resist paint as well as a crayon? ### Thick paint? What happens if you use thick poster paint instead of watercolour? ### A candle? Does rubbing an unlit candle on paper work like a white crayon? ### Hard or light? Which secret message shows up better: one pressed hard or one drawn lightly? ## In the classroom Crayon resist fits KS1 Year 1 everyday materials \(describing materials as waterproof or not\) and NGSS 2-PS1-1 \(classifying materials by their properties\). It makes a good first investigation: which drawing materials let water through, and which keep it out? [Ideas for teachers]()[Using it on the whiteboard]() ## Questions parents ask Why isn’t my crayon resist working? Press harder with the crayon and use runnier paint. Thin crayon lines and thick paint are the usual reasons the drawing disappears. What is the difference between crayon resist and wax resist? There isn’t one: crayons are wax, so crayon resist is a kind of wax resist. Candles, oil pastels and white wax crayons all work. What paint is best for crayon resist? Watercolour, liquid watercolour or very watery poster paint. Thick paint covers the wax instead of sliding off it. What is “wasco en ecoline”? It is what Dutch and Flemish schools call this technique: drawing with wax crayon and painting over it with liquid watercolour, named after two well-known products. It is the same wax resist. How do you write a secret message with a white crayon? Write it on white paper with a white crayon, pressing hard. Give it to a friend with a brush and some watercolour: when they paint over it, the words appear. ## Try these next ![Painted illustration of the painter pointing at a golden-brown heart and star that appeared on paper after ironing, with an iron, half a lemon and a cotton bud.]() ### [Invisible ink]() Secret writing in lemon juice that turns brown with heat. ![Painted illustration of the painter scratching through black paint with a wooden stick to reveal a rainbow rocket, planets and stars.]() ### [Scratch art]() The same wax under black paint, scratched with a toothpick. ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing a rainbow watercolour that bleeds into wet paper, with crayons, markers, a paint box and a child's rainbow drawing.]() ### [Watercolour for kids]() Wet-on-wet, blooms and salt starbursts. ## Hide a white-crayon drawing on screen Draw with the white crayon, paint over it and watch it appear. Then bake it and see the wax melt into the paper. [Play in your browser]()[All art techniques]()