Bean-style stuffing for teddy bears...

[justthemom3]

For this past year (my first year of knitting) I've tried to knit a hat and matching teddy bear to take to the docs when I have to go as a donation to the childrens oncology ward. (I have a chronic health condition - not cancer, but wanted to make a contribution and the only thing I knew how to make was hats...so hats and matching teddy bears for kids - ) The bears are not very elaborate...but they turn out cute, especially with a matching hat. What I'd like to do though, is try stuffing them with whatever is actually used to make the bean-style bears (as opposed to polyfil). I have searched and searched this evening...and I know I read somewhere that real beans should not be used, but I cannot find instructions for anything else. I see bean bears for sale, but not just the material that they are stuffed with. I thought maybe polystyrene beads, but have no idea where to buy them (besides in bulk on the net somewhere) and also, it seems like they would be lighter than what I am thinking of... does anyone have any ideas about this? thanks!