If the kid likes photography, get him into model photography with scene setups. Build intricate nonsensical storylines as kids like to do and let it play out in photos. Easy bonding!
Very likely they also don't know or not know how to express themselves when around adult, so they take the question as "what do you like that i might like?" and their default answer is "i don't know". I'm like that back then(and even now), i do have interest but most are ankle deep, so i don't really sure if i'm into it or not and not sure if other like it or not.