👉 Infant engineering refers to the innate, unconscious, and often creative problem-solving abilities that emerge in infants, typically from birth to around 12 months of age. This concept, popularized by researchers like David Elkind and Peter Gray, highlights how babies possess an innate capacity to perceive patterns, make causal connections, and innovate within their environments. For instance, infants might spontaneously arrange objects to create stable structures, demonstrate object permanence by searching for hidden toys, or engage in pretend play, all without explicit instruction. These behaviors reflect an early form of engineering thinking, where infants experiment with their surroundings to understand and manipulate the world around them, laying the groundwork for more complex cognitive and creative abilities later in life.
