Weapons: Weapons in Minecraft are used for attacking Monsters and Animals in Minecraft. There are 2 types of Weapon: Sword and Bow (and Arrows). Swords are the easiest to get, as they are crafted using wood or ores (The material used to craft the sword affects the durability and power of the sword). Because of this, I recommend swords as a first Weapon (I also think they're easier to handle, as you don't have to aim very hard.). The Bow is a bit harder. First of all, to craft a bow, you will need to defeat a Spider or two to get some string. Then, when you have crafted the bow, you need to either defeat Skeleton to get some arrows, or you need to kill a chicken, craft a stick from wood planks, and destroy gravel to get Flint.
Tools: Tools in Minecraft help you with all sorts of things, from mining ores to farming Wheat. The four tools are: Hoe, used for tilling dirt to plant seeds, Pickaxe, the most famous and essential, mines ores and most other blocks, Axe, purely for luxury, destroys anything wood quicker, and Spade, also a non-essential tool, used for destroying blocks like sand and dirt faster.