An ethnographic study documented and analyzed the idiosyncratic symbols kindergarten children employ to encode their experiences in the domains of mathematics, music, and visual art, in order to identify any patterns in use and meaning. In the area of mathematics, children were given common objects and asked to sort them. Four categories of sorting were found: idiosyncratic, material representation, idea representation, and conventional symbolic. In the area of music, children were given freedom to choose in music making. Five categories of notations were collected: exploration, representation of instrument, representation of instrument with some reference to musical elements, representation of gesture, and symbolic representation. In the area of visual arts, children were given the freedom to choose whether they painted. Structural characteristics found included exploration, topology, pattern, and pictographic representation. In each area, specific patterns emerged. In mathematics and music, children's use of symbols appeared to be linked to the representation of materials within the specific context. In the visual art portion, symbol use appeared to be context-free. The data indicated that as children become more experienced in their responses, their recordings become less context-bound and more concerned with ideas and concepts. (Author/SD)