 A team of us from the Open University's Children's Research Center and the Psychologist-led Organization Children Heard collaborated to analyze international survey responses in four languages from 240 children aged between 3 to 12 on their thoughts, feelings and experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. The report argues that children's voices are missing from the pandemic response and that they have questions which remain unanswered. As researchers, simply saying that we are going to listen and be reflexive isn't enough. My experiences of doing research with children as co-researchers taught me that it takes time and attention to hear what children say. Ironically, I found myself writing a reflexive memo asking, why was I so charmed and delighted by one of my co-researchers' engagement in the research with me? Why was another co-researcher's response so unexpected? However hard I tried, I couldn't escape my social conditioning as an adult, whose instinct it was to protect, make allowances for co-researchers' lack of experience of the world and so to be delighted by insightful responses. It was only over the course of a year or more that I was able to truly respect their research offerings as those of a citizen of the world just like me. One who's concerns about COVID was for their communities, how other people were coping and how their governments were responding to the pandemic for them. What is the most difficult decision you make on what to do to keep us safe? Why did hand sanitizers become more expensive so it was harder to buy them? Why do you use a virus for your political career? You can be kinder and not scared of us. What is the most spot-missed stick for your music? What was most impactful for me from our analysis of the survey findings was the direct nature of children's questions. These were some of the questions posed by children aged 8 to 12. They were answering a survey online, but they could equally have been in the room with policymakers and decision holders asking their questions. Children knew what was happening in the pandemic and their questions for decision makers remained unanswered. Their questions are important and showed a nuanced understanding of not only their own situation but also demonstrated a deep concern for those in power. I'm not sure many adults would have asked about optimistic visions or shown the same concern for the difficult decisions that were being made. Where are the places children go to have their questions answered? Parents and caregivers don't always have the answers and unlike Norway and New Zealand where the government's held press conferences for children, there were no authorised spaces for children to take their questions and to have them answered. As we report in this research, the pandemic was not only a global leveler but a generational one. The big question for me remains, why don't decision makers listen to children? What could we as a society have gained by taking the time to invite children to share their questions, listen to their concerns and for their questions to be answered? As a Children's Research Centre, we will continue to lobby for organisations to work together to prioritise listening to children. Take how some can die at this time when I'm having fun. It's all over the world, it's dangerous and I'm not comfortable. I wonder whether this will end and if mum and dad are in danger. We take measures, wash, disinfect, wear a mask, stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus. I want us to stay healthy. To me, the narratives, insights and observations children share with us demonstrate that children's honesty and sensitivity is a particular strength. Children show willingness to express their feelings. They make their struggles and experiences visible which to me is courageous and shows openness that is often in my opinion missing in a public discourse. Children are not afraid to ask questions and be part of conversations. It is now up to us how we engage with and respond by acknowledging and co-shaping such conversations in our homes, schools, communities as well as at a government level. Also what strikes me is the us that children keep coming back to in their narratives. The us is however also something that is often pushed aside in our responses to the impacts of the pandemic. Children emphasise the importance of relationships and communities for our health and well-being and show that if we are to strive for the pandemic we must learn to help and care for each other. This research led to multiple assets a project report and an affiliated child-focused poster for practitioners and researchers to use in their Covid recovery work with children. We have also co-hosted Children aged 0 to 11 and Covid-19 a conversation event attracting 200 attendees from across the third sector public services and higher education with key notes from Professor Carol Robinson and the Children's Commissioner for Wales. A key element of the online event was the curation of a virtual and interactive research gallery showcasing the work of 25 other research organisations and we are looking ahead to organising an international conference later in the year. Responding to our project report's recommendations we have mobilised an online resource with our sister centre the CCW called the Our Voices Initiative to enable practitioners and children to research together. The aim is to facilitate children's voices in research and offer them a shared space where their questions could be heard and conversations had.