Butterfly cookies are a fun treat to make, particularly for preschool-aged children. Getting a class of preschoolers to participate in making the dough can be a bit much to ask. As an alternative, you can make the dough at home and then bring it to the class in the morning. Each child can be given a section of dough to make their own cookie. Each section can be wrapped in saran wrap and then handed to each child.
After each child gets her section of dough, she can then roll it out and shape it into a butterfly. To do this, she will need a cookie cutter and rolling pin. If you have many kids in you preschool class, you can have each child take a turn with the cookie cutter and rolling pin. You should work with each child to roll out the dough and then push the butterfly-shaped cookie cutter into the dough.
As the children create their cookies, you can have them place their initials on the front of each butterfly. When they're finished, collect the cookies, place them on baking sheets and put them in the oven. At this point, children can either participate in a lesson or game or they can have a nap while the cookies bake. If the children have a nap, they can wake up to the smell of their butterfly cookies baking in the oven.
Using the same format that you did when the children cut their cookies out, you can have them either come up individually or participate as a class in decorating the cookies. After the cookies have cooled, you can pass them to the children and let them decorate them. Make sure that the preschoolers receive their cookies just prior to decorating them with icing because they may eat their cookie before it's finished.