At which stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, do children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols, but do not yet understand concrete logic?

According to Piaget, children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols during the preoperational stage, which typically occurs between the ages of 2 and 7. In this stage, children use symbols, such as words and images, to represent objects and ideas, allowing them to engage in imaginative play, like pretending a stick is a sword. However, they still struggle with understanding concrete logic and often think in very literal ways. For example, if a child sees a toy dog and pretends it is a real dog, they can act out scenarios, but they may not understand that the toy cannot bark or fetch. This stage is crucial for developing creativity and language, even though logical reasoning is not fully developed yet.