The whitelist is the core of Kidsplorer. Your child can visit any site on the list — nothing else. This page covers all the ways to add, manage, and organize approved sites.
Adding a site manually
In the parent portal, go to Whitelist and tap the plus button. Enter the domain or URL you want to add.
Domain vs. full URL: You can add a full URL (nationalgeographic.com/kids/games) to approve only that specific path, or a domain (nationalgeographic.com) to approve the entire site. For most educational sites, approving the full domain is the right choice. For sites like nationalgeographic.com where adult content exists alongside children’s content, approving specific paths is safer.
Subdomains: Adding example.com approves example.com and all subdomains (kids.example.com, www.example.com). If you want to approve only a specific subdomain, add just that subdomain (kids.example.com) without the root domain.
Approving a child’s site request
When your child visits a site not on the whitelist, they see a “Not approved” message with a “Request site” button. After they tap it, you receive an email notification.
The notification email contains:
- The site URL they requested
- The child’s name (from their profile)
- A one-tap approve button
- A deny button
Tapping approve adds the site to the child’s whitelist immediately. The site is accessible on their computer within 60 seconds. No login required — the approval link in the email is authenticated.
If you want to review the site before approving, open the URL in your browser first, then approve or deny from the same email.
Removing a site from the whitelist
In the parent portal, go to Whitelist, find the site, and tap Remove. The site is removed from the whitelist within 60 seconds. If your child is currently visiting that site, they’ll see the blocked message on their next page load.
Installing a curriculum pack
Curriculum packs are curated sets of approved sites organized by subject. They’re a faster starting point than building a whitelist from scratch.
To install a pack:
- Go to Whitelist in the parent portal
- Tap Curriculum Packs
- Browse packs by subject (Math, Reading, Science, History, Coding)
- Tap Install on the pack you want
Installing a pack adds all of its sites to the whitelist without removing anything already on the list. You can install multiple packs. Sites from a curriculum pack are labeled so you can distinguish them from sites you added manually.
Curriculum packs are updated by the Kidsplorer team when sites change or better alternatives become available. You receive a notification when a pack you’ve installed is updated.
Sharing or importing whitelist templates
If you’re part of a homeschool co-op or group, you can share your whitelist as a template with other families. In the parent portal, go to Whitelist, tap Share, and you’ll receive a link to share.
Other families or administrators can import your template in their own parent portal. Importing a template adds its sites to their whitelist — it doesn’t replace their existing whitelist.
For institutional accounts (schools, libraries), administrators can push a whitelist profile to multiple devices simultaneously from the admin dashboard.
Organizing the whitelist
Sites on the whitelist can be tagged with labels (e.g., “Math”, “Reading”, “Entertainment”) so you can find and manage them more easily. Labels don’t affect which sites are approved — they’re just for your own organization.
You can also filter the whitelist view by label to review a specific group of sites.
What happens when a site on the whitelist redirects to another site
If a whitelisted site redirects to a different domain, the destination domain must also be on the whitelist for the redirect to work. This is intentional — redirects are a common way sites route to third-party content, ads, or tracking platforms.
If your child visits a whitelisted site and encounters a broken page, check if the site uses a redirect by opening it in your own browser and noting the destination URL. Add the destination domain to the whitelist if it’s appropriate.