Already in the 18th century, the concept of a dramatic work was adapted for plays by Juraj Dijanić appeared in Croatia, which unfortunately was not published until the 20th century. Plays and dramatic works adapted for performance in front of an audience in the 18th and 19th centuries were not strictly oriented towards the younger population, so they were thematically broader than they are today. Playwrights of that time encouraged the development of the consciousness of the people and nationality, the feeling for the Croatian language and culture. With the development of amateur groups that used plays for these purposes, the benefit of dramatic texts on the morale and education of youth and children is beginning to be seen. In the middle of the 19th century, authors began to write dramatic works intended for children and young people in the form of plays, and published them in the magazine Smilje. Due to the ever-increasing pedagogical potential of plays, a growing number of authors are turning to this way of creation. Modern Croatian playwrights have developed a new literary genre based on the work and reach of old playwrights and have oriented themselves towards dramatic creation for children and young people. The text will describe the work of Joža Skok, Zvonimir Balog, Ratko Bjelčić, Milan Čečuk, Mira Gavran, Jadranka Čunčić Bandov, Zvjezdana Ladika, Luka Paljetka, Vesna Parun, Sanja Lovrenčić, Željka Horvat Vukelja, Silvija Šesto and Nika Škrabe.