Can you convert a scene into a symbol?

Hey all, 

I made all of my animation layers for a character (head, legs, torso etc) in the "scene" instead of within it's own "graphic symbol". I cannot seem to be able to transfer all of the layers across to a symbol without losing everything. Tried googling to no avail. Noob mistake on my behalf. Does anyone know how to do this?

Also...The animation is JUST for this character which will be exported to a game. Is there a reason I would convert to a graphic symbol for that application? (I'm pursuing it because in all tutorials, that appears to be how it is done?). 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!