I highly suggest the cheap pawns as /u/djdementia suggested, but if your players still want that "can I personalize/paint my mini" feel you can buy little wooden figures. It'll be cheaper if you can find a hobby store that sells these (it's $3.25/5 on Amazon); I got mine at $1.50/4. Then your players can paint/glue/tape whatever to their respective wooden figures.
Along those lines, you could buy a cheap-ass single wooden dowel rod (hardware stores, hobby stores) and cut it into smaller pieces to get small pegs you can paint and glue on a styrofoam ball for a head.