Are there "tapping pads" to use as MIDI drum input devices? When I've done drum inputting on a keyboard I'm just too stiff. But I can really groove using my fingers and hands (not drum sticks) on a steering wheel. :)  Does that exist?

yes there are many available to do what you want, from the basic to far more advanced. i myself use an e drum kit so don't really know about the choices as for pads, never used them, but look around, there are quite a few. check the following link for examples, and have fun exploring from there
 
http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/10-of-the-best-midi-pad-controllers-566293
 

Cool. Checking them out now!

Korg padKONTROL looks simple, inexpensive, and good for finger drumming. Thanks!
 
Anyone use this little guy with finger drumming?

I made this video 3 years ago but it still pertains today just as well as did then.
Get yourself a drum machine on the cheap like the Alesis SR 16 (about 50 bucks used)
The big thing is, Sonar has drum maps for most drum machines out there, making it simple to just GO ! 
where as something like the Nano pad is more of a controller based hardware so you would need to assign the pads and create drum maps.
The video below shows how to set it up and how the pads are triggered by your fingers.

 
However, with all this said, I still find using the Piano Roll View to edit drums the best possible way.
because you can do detailed work vs. playing the pads then having to go back anyway and fine tune edit it. 
With time comes experience. it used to take me days to program drums in the Piano Roll.
But now a day, I can whack out a song with velocity changes in under a 1/2 hour easy. speed comes with time.
 
I also made a video for editing Drums in the Piano Roll View.

These are not "Ground breaking", Great videos by any means but they do give you a better understanding of how to edit drums in Sonar.
 

Hey Chuck, that's a great tutorial. Thanks!

Akai makes some very good drumming pads.  I have the AKAI MPD 18 which is the earlier version of the MPD 218.
 
But regardless of what drum pad you get the key is practice.  You must treat a drum pad like the new instrument that you have to master.  You are not going to play one like you do your steering wheel until you practice, practice, practice!

Thanks, Mario, that's horribly sobering! I always appreciate guidance that is positive and supportive (practice can lead to mastery) and grounded in reality (I'm only so good on my steering wheel because I've been practicing on it for decades!
 
In addition to Chuck's idea above, the device that seems simplest to set up is the Korg padKONTROL. The AKAI units look good too but may be more than I need. May...

A "non-conventional" suggestion to bear in mind is that with Drum Replacer/Melodyne and a microphone you have exactly what you want now. The MIDI input is moot (unless you want it, but 16 pad controllers do not lend themselves to ergonomics IMO, same as a keyboard). Let me explain...
 
You can tap on a surface (any surface), and only need a pitch difference to make Drum Replacer/Melodyne detect it. The microphone must be rigidly mounted, and not on the surface you are playing on so that you do not get the bump from the microphone shake (same as real drums). Be creative, but pitch difference is all you need (from tapping glass to wood, or even putting thimbles on select fingers...)
 
Once you have an audio track without "mic thumps"... in Drum Replacer, you can fine-tune in on one, and replace with the appropriate drum/sample (i.e., it converts the audio you choose to MIDI notes, then replaces them with the samples you choose). Similarly, Melodyne will convert audio->MIDI, so you can use that to drive a VST drum set.
 
With fingers, this can have some limitations on number of drums per track (kick/snare track, then a toms track, etc. and I *believe* Drum Replacer is still limited to 3 drums per instance anyway, but not sure), but really boils down to what is easiest for you and that definite pitch differences exist... I have seen street drummers beating on plastic buckets with real sticks, and a 5-gallon one being sat on "cajon style" so they could rock on it to change the pitch... ironically, some of those audio recordings could easily be converted to MIDI to drive a VST and converted to "conventional drums."
 
Bottom line... microphone, a pitch difference, and whatever setup you like ergonomically... then the tools we already have available.
 
[just don't beat on anything glass with real sticks... but pots and pans are okay as long as the wife doesn't catch you!]
 

I also have an Akai. AN MPD 26.
Works great. it also has built in presets for Sonar, Reaper, Pro tools, exc.
but I still prefer the drum machine because when I use Sonar for Drum triggering,
it comes with over 200 Maps. those maps include many drum machines. who knows maybe the korg is in there as well. I don't think so though.
What ever your choice... best of luck with it man.