Course Content

  1. 1

    • Introduction to Floor Play Foundations

    • Lizzie’s Story
  2. 2

    • Your Pedagogy

    • Pedagogy Check-in
  3. 3

    • A Developmental Movement Approach

    • Infant Experts

    • Helpful Adults
  4. 4

    • Lying and Melting

    • Lying and Melting: Quiz

    • Uncurl, Curl, Extend

    • Uncurl, Curl, Extend: Quiz

    • Connecting up from the core

    • Connecting up from the core: Quiz

    • Connecting up to the edges and finding the midline

    • Connecting up to the edges and finding the midline: Quiz

    • What gets in the way 1?

    • What gets in the way 2?

    • The Mouth

    • The Mouth: Quiz

    • The Neck

    • The Neck: Quiz

    • Reflecting on Back Play

    • Side Play

    • Side Play Quiz

    • Organising the Body

    • Organising the Body Quiz

    • Tummy Play

    • Tummy Play Quiz

    • Skydiving (on the floor)

    • Skydiving Quiz

    • Bellycrawling

    • Bellycrawling Quiz

    • Rolling

    • Rolling Quiz
  5. 5

    • Going Forward

    • And now

    • Your thoughts

Course Tutor

Penny Greenland

Penny has been teaching across the early years sector for thirty-five years. In 1998 she set up the action-research project which led to the creation of Developmental Movement Play and has continued to research and develop the approach ever since. She is author of Hopping Home Backwards: body intelligence and movement play and a contributor to several early years text books about physical development.

The floor is a workplace for children

Children often take to the floor to play and learn - they know that this helpful for their body. Make learning environments which value the floor as a workplace, to give children more opportunities to get important developmental work done.

Know the basics

The foundations for strong, adaptable upright movement are created on the floor, in a series of unfolding early movement patterns. Recognise these in action, and support children to engage with them fully, in a developmental approach to physical development.

The role of the reflexes

Reflexes guide early movement development. Recognise them in children’s movement play, know which aspects of physical development they prompt, and offer a rigorously child-led approach.

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