Notes in music are used to tell a player how long to hold a note(s). A rest in music is used to tell a player how long to be silent for. How long a note or rest is held for depends on the lower note of a time signature which I will cover separately. Try to memorize what each note and rest looks like. Also, I suggest practice writing each of the notes and rests on a piece of paper by copying them from the images below.

A whole note is a small hollow circle (called the head of a note) and a whole rest looks like an upside down hat.

A half note has a hollow head and also has a stem. The stem is the line going up from the head.  A half rest looks like a hat.

A quarter note has a solid black head and a stem. A quarter rest looks like the shape below.

An 8th note has a solid head, a stem and a flag.  An eighth rest looks like a forward slash and the stem makes it look like the number seven.,

A 16th note has a solid head, a stem and two flags.  An eighth rest looks like the number seven with with two flags.

A 32nd  note has a solid head, a stem and three flags.  An eighth rest looks like the number seven with with three flags.

A 64th note has a solid head, a stem and four flags.  An eighth rest looks like the number seven with with four flags.

A 128th note has a solid head, a stem and five flags.  An eighth rest looks like the number seven with with five flags.

NOTE: Theoretically the 256th and 512th note do exist but are very rarely used.