The best thing you can do with it, as other have said is to use it!
Sit with the camera fully charged, and the manual and just run through the modes and settings - Using something static such as an ornament as a subject, click away and see how different settings affect the outcoming shot.... You will soon start to see how different things can be captured given the light, distance away from you etc.
Once you have the basic settings, just go for a walk around your local area and you will soon find yourself looking at things differently!