Created alongside the early years
Developmental Movement Play
An approach to physical development that values movement and expression. DMP is not a programme to follow it's source of information to sprinkle into your practice.
Child led and play based
DMP focuses on two aspects
of physical development
The Feeling of Me
Sensory processing
How children build the felt sense of their body. Focusing on 4 core body senses - Touch, Proprioception, Vestibular & Interoception.
Me Moving
Movement reflexes and choices
The building blocks that create a full and adaptable movement range. Led by the subtle differences in our children, rather than milestones.
then we look at
Why children move as they do
and what can we do to support them
“ It’s just been a whole change in awareness of the importance of movement play. It seems to underpin all our activities now. It’s not just happening in the movement area ... it’s right across the nursery. ”
** Name and job title here **
The infant expert
Children are hardwired to seek out what they need for great physical development. At first a set of magnificent reflexes guide them to the ways they need to move.
Then they listen to their bodies and choose movement that gives them what they need. They're very good at it ... they're infant experts.
They don't need us to tell them what to do. They need us to know what they are looking for - and why - and make great spaces and places where they can create their own physical development programme. This is movement play.
Research behind the appraoch
In 2002 we got together with lots of early years practitioners, learnt some developmental movement theory together, then all went off to watch children with new eyes. We met up four times a year to share what we were seeing and thinking.
The DMP approach is rooted in this early collaborative research. We published the findings in 2009.
We continue to teach settings across the UK (over 1,500 settings now); and to observe children and develop the thinking.
DMP is constantly evolving ...