Coating small fragile pieces for a bit of extra strength?

Hi all, Complete 3d printing neophyte. My university has public access Prus Mini+ printers, which are available to use for free (PLA filament). I used this service to print some pieces for a board game I'm designing. So now I have several cavemen and various animal figurines. Some objects feature slender parts (spears, legs, etc...). I'd like to be able to put the pieces away in a game box without fear of any parts snapping. So I'm wondering if anyone could recommend me something I could coat them with (that is sold in small amounts and won't break the bank ideally...) that would improve durability? And if I wanted to paint them, what sort of paint would work over such a coating? Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you~