Drawing on the work of Vygotsky on scaffolding play and research on teacher intervention and mature forms of play, we have developed a teacher guide about play which frames children's role and scenario development and provides a teacher play intervention schema. The research question explored in this study is 'How does a teacher guide, focusing on socio-dramatic and imaginative play, shape in-service and pre-service teachers' play practices?' Data are collected through planning documents, journal reflections and videos. Findings suggest that the specific guide was employed in a threefold way by the teachers: to reflect on their involvement in children's play; to document children's learning and development, focusing on role and scenario development abilities; and to plan curricula changes and play activities. This study confirms that teachers need explicit pedagogical support to begin to develop sophisticated epistemology on play and implement play pedagogy. (author abstract)