It is a challenge for teacher educators to develop innovative pedagogical practices amongst initial teacher education (ITE) students when much of their learning is gained in schools where practice is slow to change. This paper examines two such practices which are currently being promoted through government policy for children's education in Wales: the use of play as a mode of learning and the development of capability in information and communications technology (ICT). A study of how ITE students learn from informal experience with novel technologies and structured play in an ICT course setting is analysed in relation to their experiences of teaching ICT in their teaching practice and their perceptions of play as a mode of learning for themselves and for the children they teach. The ITE students' teaching approaches do not exhibit the principles of learning through play which they predominantly espouse, and this evidence points to a tension between the beliefs that they have gained from reflection on their own experiences and the ICT pedagogy which they meet in schools. A number of barriers are identified which must be overcome in order to develop the use of play in both developing ICT capability and using ICT for learning in other subjects. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)