This paper is focused on a concise presentation of the definition of play, not only in the context of children's entertainment and joyful activity, but also as a phenomenon of exceptional importance for influencing the overall development of children of early and preschool age. Different types of play can have more or less influence on certain aspects of development, however, it is undeniable that a child explores, learns and influences his environment through his play. Furthermore, the paper elaborates an extremely important type of children's play, which is referred to in the paper as symbolic play. Although it is known by various names, this game is considered a significant developmental milestone in children's play, and as such it has a beneficial effect and raises various aspects of the child's development to a higher level. The paper also mentions various symbolic means by which the child performs an imagined play activity. Symbolic play changes during the child's age, from simple representations of experienced actions and symbolic play as a casual game activity, to exceptional imaginary game scenarios in which the child becomes whoever he wants and creates a common, unique game in cooperation with his peers. The paper states the effect of symbolic play on certain developmental aspects, such as socio-emotional development, verbal and cognitive development, and the development of children's creativity. Although symbolic play is considered an activity that appears due to the child's internal motivation and need for it, adults in the child's environment (educators and parents) play a significant role in encouraging its development. The paper states the role of the educator as a professional individual in recognizing children's symbolic play and his appropriate reaction and actions in order to support the game scenario as well as raise symbolic play to an increasingly complex level. In addition to the above, the involvement of parents in a child's play is extremely important in his development and has a positive effect on creating a foundation for later mastering more complex forms of learning and behavior.