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The relevance of the article. The problem of ‘Paying It Forward’, or the notion that people, children and young persons, carry out acts of kindness to strangers without expecting a return or ‘being paid’ back, is so important that, without exaggeration, the future of mankind depends on it. The term “Paying it Forward“ is tentatively described as ‘the process of somebody doing something good for another without having the intention to have the favour returned or being “paid back”, but instead with the expectation that the recipients pass it on to another person’. The author tries to find answers to the question: why is it that many people who live now feel attached to, worry about, and may even consider themselves responsible for the lives of those who will come to this world several generations later?

Description of the research progress. The article attempts to investigate the phenomenon of ‘living in the now’ and how this affects this ‘paying it forward’, as it can be assumed that their concern about the wellbeing of those who may live in the future may be affected by a limited feeling of being connected with times to come and are more concerned about responding to their needs in the hic et nunc. The trend that pushes children towards living more and more in the present is fueled by numerous processes, the most significant of which is the reduction in the amount of time children devote to leisure and hobbies and the expectation of almost immediate satisfaction of their needs. The author examines the gap between the past, present and future and how this affects the attitude of young men and women to improve the lives of future generations.

Conclusions. The urge to feel connected to or la sense of longing for what went before serves many purposes; it provides identity, pride, certainty, meaning and even repose, recuperation, and healing. It is also for these reasons that rescuing cultural heritage a high priority after conflicts or natural disasters. This raises the question: how well prepared are the younger generation to participate in activities that will benefit those who come after them?

The relevance of the article. The problem of ‘Paying It Forward’, or the notion that people, children and young persons, carry out acts of kindness to strangers without expecting a return or ‘being paid’ back, is so important that, without exaggeration, the future of mankind depends on it. ‘Pay it Forward’ is not a new way of behaving; as else, people would have ceased to exist a long time ago. The term “Paying it Forward“ is tentatively described as ‘the process of somebody doing something good for another without having the intention to have the favour returned or being “paid back”, but instead with the expectation that the recipients pass it on to another person’.

Description of the research progress. After a brief elaboration on the notion of ‘paying it back’, the first part seeks to explore the phenomenon of ‘living in the now’ and how this affects this ‘paying it forward’, as it can be assumed that their concern about the wellbeing of those who may live in the future may be affected by a limited feeling of being connected with times to come. The trend that pushes children to increasingly living in the now is fed by numerous processes, the most important being that spending time at their leisure is becoming rarer, and the other that they expect near immediate responses to their needs.

Conclusions. If people get tired of communicating with the present, they have no energy left for the future. Will children and young people to think about the wellbeing and well becoming of prospective generations? Where and how could they possibly muster the motivation, energy, and above all the time, to ‘pay it forward’? What future lies in waiting for the young generations and for those who come after them? This question gives rise to daunting scenarios, whose consequences could only be approximated, if at all. An effort to this effect will be attempted in the future studies.

The theory and research described in this article is based on the Vygotskian approach to human development. As this theory suggests, the promotion of semiotic activity in children is essential for their cultural development. It is argued in this paper that the promotion of semiotic activity in young children within the context of their play activity is an important aspect of the improvement of early childhood education. In a small scale exploratory study we observed pupils of 4-6 year old playing together with a train set. During this play the children were encouraged to make a diagram of their railway track. By analysing their play activity and their schematisations, we tried to find out whether (and how) the promotion of semiotic activity would be possible without affecting the play character of the children’s activity.