The object of this study is to research the concept of play in the teaching of history in the early years of elementary school, by conducting interviews and workshops with teacher training students from two schools run by the Rio de Janeiro State Department of Education located in the Baixada Fluminense. The aim of the research is, through analysis, to identify, define and develop strategies for the use of play in the teaching of history to children. The sources used were the curricular proposals of the SEEDUCRJ teacher training course, interviews with teachers of pedagogical subjects, conversation circles and workshops with students on the course. The methodology was bibliographical research, with a view to investigating play and the curriculum, and then participant observation of all the dynamics with students and teachers. Through the analysis of the curriculum, questionnaires, conversation circles and workshops, it was possible to see that there is a lack of teaching of history in the training of teachers in the pedagogical course, which hinders the understanding of the concept of play as an important tool in the construction of historical knowledge in the early years of elementary school.