'We'll be a history project': children in the U.S. talk about the coronavirus

(Reuters) - "I feel like 20 years from now, we'll be a history project."

Children around the world are living through a moment that no generation has really experienced before. Many in the United States are approaching a month in lockdown, unable to see their friends and with their schools and playing fields closed.

What do they think of the coronavirus that has upended their lives, and how are they coping?

Here are some of the things children said:

WHAT IS THE VIRUS?

"The coronavirus is a worldwide sickness that is forcing everyone to stay home. The government wants us to stay at home so the virus does not continue to spread." - Alexis Anderson, 12, Memphis, Tennessee.

"If you imagine a bubble, it has spikes on... and it attaches with those spikes to your cells and takes over the cells." - Maverick Hughes, 8, Carmel, Indiana.

"For some people it can be a common cold, but for some people maybe... if you're more elderly, than it can be very deadly." - Amanda Moran, 11, Los Angeles, California.

HOW LOCKDOWNS ARE AFFECTING THEM:

"And even NBA players are infected and NBC is canceled and people's schools." - Charles Coleman, 6, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

"Great, cause it's fun and I don't have to go to school." - Lily Arling, 7, Cincinnati, Ohio.

"It's definitely opened my eyes to like, stuff that I do every single day. I'm suddenly missing a lot of kids, a lot of my friends. We don't realize how awesome school is until we lose it." - Elsa Pena, 16, Miami, Florida.

"It's been like very hard for me because I usually give people hugs or a high-five. But I can't do that because it's coronavirus season." - Alexandra Anderson, 8, Memphis, Tennessee.

HOW THEY'RE USING STAY-HOME TIME:

"I've been spending my time playing outside. And, and making brownies and cake." - Dawson Carpenter, 5, Carmel, Indiana.

"I'm bored in the house and I'm in the house bored." - Caleb Morgan, 15, Memphis, Tennessee.

THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE:

"I just hope everyone can remember that the situation that all of us are in is not permanent. Everything will get better eventually." - Blake Davis, 12, Atlanta, Georgia.

"I hope that the scientists and that the doctors find a vaccine for this very soon, because I am... very tired of being in a house all day long." - Chardae Coleman, 11, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

"I feel like 20 years from now, we'll be a history project." - Kelsey Morgan, 15, Memphis, Tennessee.

(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Writing by Bernadette Baum; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)