My son often needs something to fiddle with while he is thinking. At school he ends up doodling or playing with his pencil. The past few years for stocking stuffers her has received a number of different "fiddle" type toys. These are usually well received. I don't see a problem with this but do try and teach him to fiddle "appropriately". We doodle on scratch paper, not books or desks. We don't fiddle with other people things and then loose them or break them.