Are you talking about pastels? Cray-pas are a fairly reliable brand. Think crayons but a little softer.

But there’s nothing wrong with chalk or crayons tbh. Both are very forgiving in terms of learning curve. You can use both or either at all levels of experience and training to create stuff that can pass muster.

Chalk, however, can be messy and often needs a fixative if you want to keep the end result, so it’s a little more hassle than picking up a box of generic crayons.

As someone else already said, just regular pencils work. There’s a reason that pretty much every form of artist learns to sketch at some point. It’s a fundamental skill in the process of most “genres”, even outside of painting or other 2d art forms. It’s also fun and relaxing once you get the basics under your belt (like shading and blending). You don’t need special stuff either. You can get going with a #2 from anywhere and a used envelope.

Seriously, look at what they use in elementary schools. Crayons, tempera, finger paints and chonky pencils. Low cost, easy to use, easy to clean up, and still capable of more complex work if you want. Any of those will get you rolling