1. For fundamental first steps in the Arduino universe (LED blink, Button Read, Read ADC, Serial Print) get basic Arduino boards such as the Arduino UNO. Most of the Arduino tutorials are tailored to the Arduino hardware.
2. If you cannot get a simple Arduino or you do not want to, you can use the Heltec CubeCell boards which are programmable in the Arduino IDE, too. Everything you can do with Arduino you can do with Heltec and even more. The Arduino tutorials can be transferred to CubeCell, too, but this requires some knowledge and may be confusing in the beginning.
3. Get basic electronic parts such as breadboard, LEDs, 220 Ohms resistors (or larger, to protect the LEDs), potentiometer, push buttons, etc., asap.
4. Install the Arduino IDE.
5. Install the CubeCell tool chain on your computer. You can download it from here. You will need it later for the LoRa connection, anyway.
6. Learn Arduino! See the list of my favorite tutorials below.

Install the CubeCell Arduino Toolchain from here:
https://heltec-automation-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/cubecell/quick_start.html

• https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/starting-guide/getting-started-arduino