Some variants of this family of children's rhymes don't adhere to the "When/then" format. However, from what I've seen thus far, these variants usually have another uniform beginning for all the lines in the rhyme. See this rhyme for example:

POOR PINOCCHIO
1. Poor Pinocchio he learned to suck his thumb, thumb
after thumb after thumb, after thumb after thumb.
Cross over *
2. Poor Pinocchio he learned to tie his shoe, shoe after
shoe, after shoe, after shoe . Cross over *
3. Poor Pinocchio he learned to climb a tree, tree after tree,
after tree, after tree. Cross over *
4. Poor Pinocchio he learned to shut the door, door after
door, after door, after door. Cross over *
5. Poor Pinocchio he liked to kick bee hives, hives after
hives, after hives, after hives. Cross over *
6. Poor Pinocchio he learned to pick up sticks, sticks after
sticks, after sticks ,after sticks. Cross over *
7. Poor Pinocchio he learned all about heaven, heaven after
heaven, after heaven, after heaven. Cross over *
8. Poor Pinocchio he learned to shut the gate, gate after
gate, after gate after gate. Cross over *

[and so on up to 11-use any word that rhymes with those numbers]

* When you say "cross over" you fold your arms crisscross over your chest, and the other girl you are doing the handclap with does the same thing at the same time.
-Natashia, age 13; Alberta, Canada; 10/21/2005; www.cocojams.com