“Any rhyme with a good beat can be used for skipping, but some of these ones have been specially invented for that purpose. Usually skipping rhymes end with a number series (which may go on indefinitely).

Counting plays a big part in children’s verses, and many of their games require counting-out rhymes. But numbers are not essential for counting out. Not even sense is necessary, and the metre of the verse is all that really matters. So we get in English, such pleasant nonsense as A rah chickapa, and in Irish the same sort of thing in Lúra beag, used for a fireside counting game.” — Hugh Shields, 1971