GINA B. GOOD / PVT Dove the Mime visits Mt. Charleston Elementary School Monday as part of Young Authors Day. The students participated in a day of creative writing exercises, punctuated by lively performances. Dove the Mime Advertisement

Each year, Dove the Mime travels throughout the world entertaining people.

Monday he was in Pahrump, delighting children at Mt. Charleston Elementary School by acting out scenarios they wrote earlier in the day.

Mime Time, in conjunction with Young Authors Day, is an educational experience designed to stimulate children's imaginations and enhance the creative writing curriculum.

Dove's exaggerated facial expressions and movements made learning easy to remember and fun for the students.

The performer demonstrated movements simulating using ropes and ladders, smelling flowers and even birds flying.

The day began with an assembly, introducing students to the art of silence. Dove, who has been a mime for 40 years, discussed the differences between writing for the stage and writing for the page.

The performer stressed the importance of story structure and how to get ideas for the simple stories that would be acted out later in the day. He told the youngsters each story must have a person, place, problem and solution.

Students returned to their classrooms, where they worked in small groups. Students were told to write short stories on topics of their choosing about "anything in the whole wide world."

The students took Dove at his word. In two afternoon assemblies, he acted out scenarios selected by Principal Tim Wombaker.

Sitting on the floor of the general purpose room, kids laughed and clapped as Dove acted out seven scenarios during each assembly.

One kindergarten team's story involved "a boy with a wiggly tooth who can't get the tooth to come out."

Dove acted out exactly what the students wrote, becoming both the boy with the loose tooth as well as the father.

Dove tried to pull out his tooth and when he couldn't, his face crumbled into sadness and fake tears. As the father, Dove tried to pull out his son's tooth with pliers. When that didn't work, he tied a string around the tooth and an imaginary door handle and slammed the door.

That didn't work either. Finally, the boy bit into an apple and his tooth came out, ending the story happily.

Other stories included a little girl "chewing a big glob of gum and blowing a gigantic bubble that lifted her into the sky." There was a "goofy gardener" and "a guy who was having a very bad day at the bowling alley."

Before performing in Pahrump, this school year Dove visited schools in Oklahoma, California, Oregon and Washington.

"I will be working my way across the country, with my last performance in Texas," he said.

"Next year, I will be performing along the whole East Coast."