This article reports on ongoing work in initial teacher education (ITE) where student teachers have been required to observe and record children's play, to describe and analyse this, and to consider the pedagogical implications. They have been introduced to a theoretical background, which takes into account the increasingly multi-modal nature of literacy practices, and have been shown a methodology for conducting a small-scale ethnographic research project on the playground. They have been encouraged to consider how the unofficial literacy practices of the children's homes, communities and popular culture might affect the official practices of the school, and to understand how children absorb and recreate texts from beyond the school curriculum. The article reflects the student teachers' findings on school playgrounds, with narratives re-enacted and drawn from popular media, imaginative use of playground space, and games that explore the pupils' present and future lives. Student teachers begin to recognise the vital role of socio-dramatic play in the development of emergent literacy. They also develop insights on applying children's expertise outside the classroom to their literacy practices within the school.