Lately, I’ve been struggling to get my 7year old to try new things. Even with stuff I know he might enjoy he shuts it down right away. Anytime a new game or activity involves following instructions like a board game or baking a recipe he just says he’s good at creating his own stuff and won’t even try. Honestly, I think he’s just scared of being frustrated or not getting it right the first time.
I really want to encourage him to be open to new things but I don’t want to push too hard and turn him off completely. Has anyone else dealt with this? I’d love some advice on how to handle it.
Yup, totally been there. It’s SO frustrating. 
My kid was exactly the same way. Every new thing was a battle because he only wanted to do things his way. We started small introducing new things as part of his routine but without making a big deal out of it. Like “hey, you’re in charge of adding the chocolate chips this time.” That little bit of control made a big difference.
This sounds exactly like my 6-year-old! What is it with this age? Do you think it’s about control or maybe they just hate the idea of not being instantly good at something? I’ve wondered if my kid’s the only one like this but maybe it’s more common than I thought.
We went through this with my older one, and honestly, it took some trial and error. One thing that worked for us was setting up low stakes challenges where failure wasn’t a big deal like letting him try new board games without keeping score. We also started using “first try” language, saying things like, “it’s just a first try, nobody’s perfect on their first go.” I noticed that validating the frustration instead of avoiding it helped. It’s okay to feel frustrated but we can learn to keep going anyway.
Also, I’d suggest letting him lead some activities while you model following instructions. Maybe if he sees you being okay with not knowing everything or messing up, it could give him the courage to do the same.