This paper takes a look at the different approaches to fairytales as a literary genre and attempts to place the approaches into an elementary school context. Fairytales are here observed from a pedagogical, psychological, methodological, linguistic and literary-theoretical standpoint. All of the mentioned approaches leave their mark within the classroom which depends on the age, capabilities and needs of the students in question. This paper takes into consideration the ways in which these approaches are adapted and why. To take an in-depth look into the approaches to fairytales, first it is necessary to define fairytales themselves and place them in a literary-theoretical context. For this reason, the focus is placed primarily on the theory of the fairytale, the relationship between the kinds of fairytales; folk and artistic, classic and modern. An analysis of the national elementary school curriculum (Nastavni plan i program za osnovnu školu) will follow, which will include research into the presence of fairytales as a genre within elementary school education. Taking into consideration the theoretical basis of the fairytale and the analyis of its presence in a vertical order, the two will be synthesized and a more in-depth look into each approach to the fairytale will be analyzed individually to determine its effect in the classroom environment. The exception here is the psychological approach which will not be observed within the classroom context but as part of the upbringing aspect of education, which will also be further clarified.