This work has as main objective to analyze the importance of games and play in early childhood education, emphasizing reflections on the historical aspects of the games and play as playful activities and learning tools and discussing the importance of this in the child education, considering the views of Piaget, Vygotsky and Wallon. To achieve these objectives, we carried out a literature, a qualitative approach in order to organize a literature review. The results pointed to the idea that the fun and games are used by humans as entertainment since old days. But its importance to education is given only after a new design is based on the child, the child is understood as a special phase, focused on the construction of the development from activities that are natural and own children. The study provided the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Wallon, thinkers who studied the development of the human being and highlighted the importance of playfulness to the social formation and intellectual development of individuals in the infant stage. Thus, they are activities that can’t be waived by the teacher of early childhood education. Every game, every play, every demonstration held a child, is a pleasurable and meaningful action for the development of cognitive of it. ; Este trabalho tem como objetivo geral analisar a importância dos jogos e brincadeiras na educação infantil, destacando reflexões sobre os aspectos históricos dos jogos e brincadeiras como atividades lúdicas e instrumento de aprendizagem e discutindo sobre a importância destas na Educação Infantil, considerando as visões de Piaget, Vygostsky e Wallon. Para o alcance destes objetivos, realizou-se uma bibliográfica, de cunho qualitativo, a fim de organizar uma revisão de literatura. Os resultados apontam para a ideia de que os jogos e brincadeiras são utilizados pelos seres humanos como entretenimento desde a antiguidade. Mas, a sua importância para a educação se deu apenas após se fundamentar uma nova concepção sobre a criança, entendendo-se a infância como ...