This may sound curmudgeonly, but I try to drill into my son's awareness that he should aspire to be a producer of technology, rather than just a consumer. We face regular discussions about why he shouldn't spend $30 on Robux or some other digital currency. I try and explain that these digital currencies don't have real value like, say, a tennis racket or a pair of shoes.
As such I also try and give him the tools to fight against gamification, and not to be sucked into grinding for hours to get some badge or other worthless digital artifact.
So my 2 cents would be not to add features like this to an app aimed at kids. Let them see that there is a such a thing as a non-gamified, non-ad infested app that adds real value to their lives.